Keurig CEO Brian Kelley blamed a 23% drop in sales on his decision to use DRM to stop people from buying their coffee-pods from his competition.
He pledged to end the practice with a new product that will jailbreak his own machines, tricking them into accepting third-part consumables. He also plans to launch a cold-brew coffee-brewing machine.
Keurig's share-price is down 25% since the start of 2015. They still face a lawsuit over the decision to use DRM.
It was easy to defeat K-Cup's DRM: you could do it with a single piece of tape, or if you wanted a readymade solution, K-Cup's competitors would give you a free K-Cup jailbreaking gadget.
I remain disappointed that K-Cup didn't sue any of the jailbreakers, given how likely that lawsuit would have been to go the other way and partially overturn section 1201 of the DMCA.
CEO Brian Kelley says he's listening to consumers and is ready to make changes. The biggest frustration for customers is that the 2.0 model only brews Keurig branded coffee cups.
"Quite honestly, we were wrong. We underestimated the passion the consumer had for this," Kelley told analysts on a call Wednesday evening…
Keurig plans to bring back the My K-cup accessory to allow customers to brew other brands of coffee.
Keurig Green Mountain gets roasted. Stock drops 10% [Heather Long/CNN]
(Image: Rogers Family Company Coffee and Tea )
