Kyocera, among the first smartphone brands sold in the U.S., is leaving the consumer phone business
UPDATE: In an official statement sent to Android Authority, Kyocera clarified that it is to refocus its Japan-based business on serving primarily the business consumer, as it did in the US several years ago. Original story continues below.
Japanese tech firm Kyocera is exiting the consumer smartphone business according to Japanese news agency Nikkei (via AndroidAuthority). The announcement was made during a conference call that was held to announce the company's financial results for the fiscal year. Company President Hideo Tanimoto said that the reason why it is leaving the consumer end of the smartphone business is due to a lack of profits.
Tanimoto was asked why Kyocera is no longer going to be involved in consumer smartphones and his response, translated by Google, was, "The [spread] of high-speed communication standard ‘5G’ will raise the cost of terminals. We decided to withdraw because we could not make a profit." While Kyocera never released financials related to its handset business, Nikkei said that for the fiscal year that ended at the end of March, phone sales were split right down the middle between those made to consumers and those made to corporations.
The Kyocera QCP-6035 was one of the first smartphones in the U.S.
The company first entered the mobile phone business in 1989 and when it started building smartphones, it became known for building easy-to-use and durable handsets. In 2008, it acquired the mobile phone business of Sanyo Electric (now known as Panasonic Holdings). The Kyocera QCP-6035 was one of the first smartphones available in the U.S. market and combined a personal digital assistant (PDA) with a cellphone. In August 2014, the Kyocera Brigadier became the first smartphone available in the U.S. to be equipped with a sapphire glass display.
Kyocera isn't planning on completely leaving the smartphone industry as the new plan calls for the company to focus completely on smartphones for businesses. Kyocera's president also said that some of its consumer-based smartphones that were also sold to corporations will still be supported. For example, the Kyocera DuraForce Ultra 5G could be considered a phone for consumers, but its "ultra-ruggedness" also makes it attractive for certain businesses to use. Still available from Verizon, the DuraForce Ultra 5G is not a cheap phone at $899.99 (or 36 monthly payments of $24.99).
While Kyocera exits the consumer smartphone market, later this week we will see the return of HTC as it is expected to unveil the HTC U23 Pro 5G this coming Thursday, May 18th.
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