According to a media report in the US magazine “The Verge” (link), Belkin has stopped the development of Matter products. The company spokeswoman Jen Wei is quoted as saying Belkin wants to “take a big step back, regroup, and rethink” its approach to the smart home.
This is apparently not a complete withdrawal. The Belkin brand Wemo could, as announced, launch products at a later date – “when it can find a way to differentiate them”. That points to a side effect of unification in the Matter standard that could become a problem for manufacturers: If many suppliers bring products with the same range of functions to the market, competition increases.
Those who don’t want to sell on price alone have to find other ways to differentiate themselves and their products from the competition. Currently, Belkin does not have a regularly maintained smartphone app that could be used by the company to offer additional incentives beyond the Matter standard. The Wemo app was last updated two years ago.
However: Until further notice, the announced Wemo products will have the status “stopped” in our Matter device overview.
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