The End of X10

X10 is shutting down. It appears the company is headed into receivership and its factories will cease making products for controlling lights and other devices over the powerline.

CE Pro has learned from several sources that X10 will no longer make products based on the home-control protocol it created in the 1970s.

Interestingly, the closure coincides with a high-profile report from Black Hat that X10 could be hacked, but that report most likely had nothing to do with X10’s demise. More likely, the company simply faced competition from newer home-control technologies such as Z-Wave (RF) and Universal Powerline Bus (powerline).

Being the low-cost provider, X10 undoubtedly suffered from higher wages in China, where its products are manufactured.

You may make fun of X10 now, but the powerline-based home-control protocol surely launched the home automation industry starting in the 1980s. It took more than a decade for other retrofit home automation technologies (Z-Wave, UPB, ZigBee, Insteon) to gain traction.

Since its pioneering work in home control, X10 has devolved into a somewhat trashy Website peddling cheap wireless cameras and other gadgets. That business may continue, according to sources.


X10 on Big Bang. Happy time