Belkin starts shipping WeMo HomeKit Bridge hub with Apple HomeKit support, announced 8 months ago, for $40
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge :
Context & Ripple Effects
Belkin was in the first wave of HomeKit hardware — its WeMo line was among the accessories lined up for the platform's first accessory launches, and it broadened the line with door, window, keychain, alarm, and motion sensors in early 2015 (sensor expansion). But Apple's MFi licensing rules kept uncertified WiFi gear like Nest out of HomeKit entirely (MFi exclusivity), which is exactly the gap a bridge product fills.
Philips proved the retrofit-bridge model back in 2015 by using Bridge 2.0 to bring Siri control to existing Hue bulbs (Philips Bridge 2.0); Belkin's $40 WeMo HomeKit Bridge, finally shipping eight months after announcement, applies the same play to its own installed base. The long tail matters here: Belkin later ended WeMo app support on January 31, 2026, remotely bricking most devices — with only four units surviving through HomeKit over Thread.
First-order effects
- Existing WeMo owners get a $40 path to Siri and HomeKit control without replacing their devices, while Belkin finally converts an announced product into shipped revenue eight months late.
Second-order effects
- Apple's push to get HomeKit bundles into new homes via homebuilder partnerships raises demand for exactly this kind of certified bridge hardware, pressuring other WeMo-class vendors to add HomeKit gateways rather than lose their installed base to replacements.
Third-order effects
- The eventual outcome shows the structural risk of hub ecosystems: when Belkin killed most WeMo products and bricked devices remotely, HomeKit-over-Thread compatibility outlived the vendor's own app — meaning standards-based connectivity, not vendor support, becomes what determines a smart home device's usable life.
The trend: Smart-home vendors are shifting from proprietary apps toward bridge-based HomeKit compatibility, a move that ultimately lets standards like Thread keep devices alive even after the manufacturer walks away.