There are two ways of looking at the world (or, at least, the world of air conditioning thermostats). If you live in Silicon Valley, there is no one other than Nest, and in the unlikely event that you see an old thermostat, you regard it as a quaint relic of the past. Of course, if you live anywhere else in the world, Nest is a pretty cool product that you might have seen once or twice, but chances are the thermostat that you adjust (or not) daily is made by someone else.
One of the most likely candidates for that title is Honeywell. The company has been at the forefront of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) for the longest time. But, increasingly, incumbency does not equate to stability (just ask the taxi companies in the face of Uber and Lyft), and Honeywell is well aware of this. The fact that the aforementioned and star-spangled competitor, Nest, was acquired by Google to form the basis of a broader home-automation offering only increases the nervousness that must be coursing through Honeywell’s global headquarters.
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