HDL Whitepaper · May 2026 · 18 pages

Build the whole product.

A whitepaper on why connected products are becoming the default, why almost no one knows how to build one, and what changes when you do.

Published May 2026
Length 18 pages /12 min read
Author Pierre Grönberg · HDL

What's inside

  1. The software-only moat is gone.
  2. Hardware-only is dead.
  3. The coordination tax — the seven-vendor problem.
  4. The whole-product model: single prime, one contract.
  5. Why now: AI has collapsed the build cost.
  6. Six characteristics of a connected product that ships.
  7. Five questions to ask any prospective partner.
  8. What HDL does, and why we wrote this paper.

HDL Whitepaper · 2026

Build the whole product.

Why connected products are becoming the default — and what changes when you build one.

18 pages · PDF

Download the paper.

Fill in the four fields. We email you the PDF within a minute.

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No phone calls. No sales follow-up. Just the paper.

[ 02 — A FEW IDEAS FROM THE PAPER ]

If you skim only three pages, these are the three.

Chapter 03

The coordination tax

Most connected-product projects don't fail at any single vendor. They fail at the seams between vendors. The work that kills the project is the work no one was paid for — the integration risk the client ends up absorbing alone.

Chapter 05

The AI compression

A v1 connected product that cost 18 MSEK and 24 months in 2021 is now achievable for 3–7 MSEK and 6–9 months. That is not a cyclical change. It is a category-creating change.

Chapter 07

Five questions for a partner

Who owns the whole product? What does your v1 look like? How do you handle the hardware-software seam? What does the operations model look like after launch? What is the price of being wrong?

[ 03 — WHO WROTE THIS ]

Written by the team that ships these systems.

HDL is a Helsingborg-based AI-native software studio. We build digital flagships, AI capabilities and connected products on fixed timelines and fixed prices, with an embedded development partnership that lets us act as single prime contractor across hardware, firmware, software, app, brand and commerce.

This paper isn’t a marketing piece. It’s a summary of what we’ve learned advising brands who tried to coordinate six vendors — and what we’ve seen change when one accountable partner owns the whole product.

PG
Pierre Grönberg
Founder · HDL

7

Disciplines a typical connected product touches before launch.

6–9 mo

New v1 timeline for a connected product, AI-compressed.

3–7 MSEK

Realistic v1 budget today, down from 15–25 MSEK in 2021.

1

Number of accountable partners the model recommends. The rest is coordination tax.

[ 04 — STRAIGHT ANSWERS ]

Before you give us your email.

  1. 01

    Is this really free?

    Yes. No paywall, no upsell sequence, no demo booking required. Fill the form, receive the PDF.

  2. 02

    Will I get sales calls after?

    No. We don't run a sales floor. If you want to talk, you book a slot with Pierre directly. If you don't, we leave you alone.

  3. 03

    Who is this for?

    Founders, CMOs and product leads who are starting to think about a connected v1 — or who tried already and are wondering why the project stalled.

  4. 04

    Can I share it with my team?

    Yes. The PDF is unprotected and shareable. Use it to brief your internal team or compare partners.

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