The smartphone wars have claimed another victim. Panasonic today confirmed that it will stop development of smartphones in October but will continue to manufacture and sell feature phones in Japan where they still account for about 30% of mobile handsets sold.
Back in 2011, Panasonic announced plans to expand its smartphone business to span the globe. It reentered the European market in early 2012 but quickly stepped away again, putting its global plans on ice to focus on the Japanese market.
Panasonic is not leaving the smartphone market completely though. Its decision affects only the consumer market and it will continue to make smartphones for other markets. Its new strategy appears to be very similar to BlackBerry’s own which focuses on the enterprise and niche markets.
The move comes only weeks after NEC also announced that it was pulling out of the smartphone business. Like Panasonic, NEC continues to offer feature phones.
The consolidation of the smartphone market is not expected to stop with Panasonic’s exit. With Apple and Samsung accounting for the majority of profits, BlackBerry and HTC could both follow quickly and even more established players could find themselves on the ropes in the near future.
Source : The Wall Street Journal