GPS maker Garmin is abandoning the smartphone business after failing to find its way in the highly competitive sector with a handset released a year ago. "We thoroughly analyzed the rapidly changing dynamics of the smartphone market and concluded that we cannot reach the scale necessary to effectively compete in the industry," Garmin chairman and chief executive Min Kao said.
"While this was clearly not the desired outcome, we must be prudent with our ongoing investment in the category and have therefore redeployed research and development resources internally," Kao said.
Releasing Garmin's third-quarter earnings, Kao said the company had begun development of mobile applications for the smartphone market while "winding down our investment in mobile handset device development."
Garmin launched its own branded handset in the United States a year ago in a bid to compete with smartphones from other manufacturers which offer built-in GPS features.
But the Garmin device was judged to be too expensive at 299 dollars and failed to make an impact in a crowded market.
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