Robert Triggs/Android Authority
TL; DR
- Kyocera has announced that it is withdrawing from the consumer smartphone market.
- The Kyocera boss says the withdrawal is due to the inability to turn a profit in the current market.
- The company says it will instead focus solely on corporate phones.
Just as HTC announced the revival of its U series phones, another company said it was exiting the consumer smartphone market. However, you won’t give up making smartphones completely.
In a report from the Japanese publication NikkiKyocera has announced that it is waving the white flag at its consumer smartphone business. This announcement came during a summary of the financial results for the end of the fiscal year.
As for why the company is abandoning smartphones to consumers, it appears to be related to high costs and the inability to turn a profit, according to a Google-translated quote from President Hideo Tanimoto. “the [spread] The high-speed communication standard “5G” will raise the cost of stations, Tanimoto said. “We decided to withdraw because we could not make a profit.”
The outlet notes that the company does not disclose sales figures for its mobile business. However, it is believed that when the fiscal year drew to a close, half of its total sales were to consumers and the other half to businesses.
However, Kyocera won’t completely give up on its phone business. Instead, the company will reportedly shift its focus strictly to the corporate side.
We will shift our focus to corporate smartphones, etc., where we can easily show our strengths in maintenance and operation support, and try to rebuild.
Tanimoto also states that some of its consumer models that are used with corporate customers will still be supported. This new development would mark the end of the company’s nearly 35 years in the consumer mobile phone market.
“Typical beer trailblazer. Hipster-friendly web buff. Certified alcohol fanatic. Internetaholic. Infuriatingly humble zombie lover.”