Logitech caught in mousetrap
As retailers stock up for Christmas, the No. 1 maker of computer mice is fighting to increase its share of the computer accessories market in an increasingly mouse-less world.
Founded in a farmhouse near the small Swiss town of Romanel-sur-Morges in 1981, Logitech's star rose rapidly in the 1980s when it marketed the first modern computer mouse, developed at the nearby Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.
Since then the Swiss-American company has shipped more than a billion mice and introduced a successful line-up of PC accessories including keyboards, cameras and speakers.
But like many other household names in the industry, including Intel, Hewlett Packard and IBM, Logitech is having trouble adapting to a market increasingly dominated by the tablets and smartphones that make much of its product line redundant.
There is no doubt that the industry of classic computers, which is a big part of our business, is changing, Logitech's president Bracken Darrell told Reuters, speaking from the company's U.S. headquarters in Newark, California.
After a dismal 2011/12 financial year, when Logitech issued back-to-back profit warnings and sacked its top management, the company promised investors a range of explosive new products.
The revamped line-up of audio products for both smartphones and tablets – including headphones, speakers, a WiFi-connected smart radio and a boombox – ultimately failed to grip the imagination, leaving many investors wondering about the company's future growth prospects.
Logitech's share price remains nailed below seven Swiss francs, against its historic high of 41.52 francs back in
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