Logitech was all too eager, when Google came calling about Google TV. Logitech thought by partnering with Google, they would grow big and become a world leader.

Nothing could have been further from the truth. Logitech, failed to do its due diligence or was misled to believe, that Google TV was a real product. Not a project to garner headlines for Google, in its war with Apple.

Days before the launch of Google TV at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Google informed its TV partners Logitech, Sony, Toshiba, LG and Sharp, that it will not be there. The partners were humiliated.

Logitech had to stop production of Google TV and had to eat the costs. Since the misadventure, the market capitalization of Logitech, the leading mouse maker has dropped from $6 billion to $1 billion and change. Essentially, the mouse maker has become a mouse in the world of business.

When Logitech reported earnings on Jan 26, 2012, its dropped 12.47%. The Google misadventure was still costing it a year later. See image below.

Logitech, risked its core business with a side project Google was experimenting with and has become the butt of jokes in the television industry.

Don’t let this happen to your company.