14 DAY TRIAL // As if to show that not all news is good news, Logitech has allowed information about its near-term plans to be posted on the Internet, once again confirming that the PC market isn't doing that well.
The Swiss company hasn't been at its best for a while, so it needs to cut some of its losses in order to preserve its financial and brand strength.
For a long time, it only made peripherals for PCs (personal computers), but its business practices have been shifting lately.
And by “lately” we mean the past two or three years. True, Logitech earphones for MP3 players and phones, for example, have been selling for longer, but the shift away from PCs and towards the mobile front is only now pronounced enough to raise questions.
It turns out that the IT player is going through a reorganization and will reduce emphasis on PC-related products.
Meanwhile, it will pay more attention to tablets and smartphones, while laying off around 140 people, representing 5 percent of its non-direct workforce.
That way, it might just save those $16 to $18 million it hopes to avoid losing during its fiscal year 2014 (12.2-16 million Euro to 13.77-18 million Euro).
“As we align the organization with our strategy to become a faster, more profitable company, we have also created opportunities to become more focused, improve operational effectiveness and even deliver additional cost savings that will contribute to improved profitability,” said Bracken P. Darrell, Logitech president and chief executive officer.
“These actions support our goals to develop outstanding mobility- and PC-related products, streamline our cost structure and achieve faster times to market.”
The reshuffling doesn't really compare with the one in April 2012 ($80 million / 61.19-80 million Euro), but it is still significant in how it confirms the direction of the PC industry.