Smart stroke of luck

Gardena, the subsidiary of the Swedish company Husqvarna, has turned out to be more than just a pure stroke of luck and source of revenue. The traditional manufacturer, specialising in sales through DIY and garden centre stores, ended the financial year 2016 with a sales revenue of € 537 mio - a record in the company's history.
Not only that, the positive sales revenue trend continued into the first half of 2017. The volume amounted to € 421 mio midyear and thus surpassed the respective previous year's level by ten per cent.
New products for the coming season ought to carry on this positive trend.  According to Gardena, the aim is to further expand their leading position with robotic lawn mowers for private gardens with the Sileno City, specially designed for small city gardens.
"With our wide model range, we offer the consumer the complete selection from small to large, either with or without the integration with the Gardena Smart System", says Sascha Menges, President of the Gardena Division within the Husqvarna Group. The development site in Zurich in Switzerland, where Gardena took over the start-up Koubachi back in 2015, has been reinforced by additional personnel and has moved to new premises.

Following the launch in 2016, the smart pressure pump as well as the smart battery pack system product ranges have been further developed this year and numerous new functions have been added to the app. Additional hardware enhancements have been announced for 2018. Besides the smart Sileno City, a multi-channel control for garden irrigation and a smart adapter will be available, which enables the integration of any number of electrical devices in the system.
 In August, the company announced that it was opening up its Smart System, so that other manufacturers could connect compatible smart home devices with its smart garden app. The first new partner to work in collaboration with Gardena is the French company Netatmo, whose first device is an outdoor security camera called Presence. Further partners are expected to follow.
Despite all the digitalisation, Gardena doesn't forget the analogue world. After all, one of the classics in the range will celebrate an important anniversary in the coming year: the original Gardena System with its…