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Logitech to unload Harmony line after 'disappointing' quarter
The electronics company blames continued weakness in the global PC market for strategy shift away from remote controls, speaker docks, and console gaming peripherals.
Logitech's Harmony One universal remote.
(Credit: Josh Long/CNET)Logitech today announced its intention to sell its Harmony remotes division after a "disappointing" third quarter.
The electronics company posted an operating loss of $180 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2013 on sales of $615 million, a 14 percent decline over the same period last year.
"As we articulated when we started the third quarter, continued weakness in the global PC market was the primary factor in our disappointing Q3 results," Logitech CEO Bracken P. Darrell said in a statement. "These results are unacceptable and we are taking decisive action as an outcome of my strategic review."
Putting the blame for the disappointing results squarely on the weak PC market worldwide, the company said it plans to focus more on mobile computing, specifically tablets and smartphones. Darrell said the company has identified product categories that don't fit in with the Logitech's new strategy.
"As a result, we have initiated the process to divest our remote controls and digital video security categories, and we plan to discontinue other non-strategic products, such as speaker docks and console gaming, by the end of calendar year 2013," he said.
Logitech acquired the Harmony line in 2004 when it purchased privately held Intrigue Technologies of Canada for $29 million in cash.
