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Logitech offloads units in 'disappointing' quarter

Blaming a weak global economy on poor financial results, Logitech said that it plans to sell its Harmony remotes division.
Written by Charlie Osborne, Contributing Writer

Logitech, maker of mice, keyboards, gaming accessories, and peripheral devices, has announced its intentions to sell its Harmony remotes division in the face of a "disappointing" Q3.

logitech poor quarter financial result sell unit
(Credit: Logitech)

The firm's posted Q3 earnings report said that sales fell by 14 percent from $715 million in Q3 FY2012 to $615 million. In addition, Logitech suffered an operating loss of $180 million, including an impairment charge estimated to be worth $211 million.

Sales for the firm fell 8 percent in the Americas, 11 percent in Asia, and 20 percent in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).

Net loss for Q3 was $195 million--$1.24 per share--compared to net income of $55 million--$0.32 per share--in 2012.

Naturally, these kinds of results are not going to warm investor hearts, and Logitech CEO Bracken P Darrell, branding the third quarter as "disappointing," has outlined his plan to take "immediate action" to bring the firm back to profit. Darrell said:

These results are unacceptable and we are taking decisive action as an outcome of my strategic review. Our goal with PC-platform products is to maximize profitability, while investing selectively in growing categories. We have also identified a number of product categories that no longer fit with our current strategic direction.

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 peripherals, by the end of Calendar Year 2013.

These "non-strategic product" removals include the electronics firm's Harmony remotes division in order to focus on the more lucrative mobile computing market--in other words, tablets and smartphones. Naturally, as mice are not used in relation these types of devices, the Harmony line has to go.

The Harmony line was acquired by Logitech in 2004 for a purchase price of $24 million.

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