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"Logitech CEO and President Bracken Darrell is remarkably upbeat and open for a guy who only a few weeks ago delivered some pretty bad news to investors. The 30-plus-year-old peripheral company\u2019s sales* took a 14% haircut, year-over-year, and Darrell announced Logitech would look to divest its once industry-leading Harmony remote control business.\nSince the announcement, Darrell has been on a goodwill tour of sorts \u2014 visiting media outlets to tell the Logitech story and assure us all that it has a bright future ahead of it.\nWhen the former Whirlpool executive and newly-minted CEO sat down with Mashable this week, he was open and entertaining. Explaining that the Logitech\u2019s harmony remotes were \"fantastic\" products, but other sectors are more profitable and the Logitech could no longer justify the investment.\nInstead, the company is focusing on expanding its mobile peripheral portfolio and looking to leverage whatever growth can be found in the somewhat flat PC business. Darrell acknowledged that he\u2019s taking over during a bit of a market trough for that sector, but points noted that there are \"more computing devices sold year-over-year than there have ever been.\" \nOf course, many of those devices are mobile: \"We're moving from being a PC peripherals company to a PCs and mobility company. That's the change we're making right now.\"\nThere are opportunities, said Darrell, in the PC space. He pointed to growth in the PC gaming, unified communications and Windows 8, even though the latter still represents \u201Ca very small percentage of the PC universe.\u201D\nSEE ALSO: Logitech Looks to Sell Harmony Remote Business\nTo wit, the company is introducing a new Windows 8 touch pad. The glass-topped, $79 device is ostensibly, a perfect fit for anyone upgrading an existing computer to the touch-friendly Windows 8.\nDarrell also promised that Logitech\u2019s product development cycles would get shorter and noted the three month turnaround time on the company\u2019s new Ultrathin Keyboard mini for the iPad mini.\nThe new CEO is a compelling figure who deftly addressed the Google TV fiasco, a product partnership with Google that, according to previous CEO and current Chairman Guerrino De Luca, \u201Ccost the company dearly.\u201D \nDarrell called Google TV a very good idea that was a little \u201Cpremature for us.\u201D\n\"We're a lot better for things that look like a computer, a smartphone, a tablet, and of course a notebook, an ultra-book, a PC,\" said Darrell.\nWill Logitech do TV again?  Maybe. When we asked if Logitech would make peripherals for the highly anticipated, though still-only-rumor, Apple TV, Darrell said they will always look at all product opportunities from major manufacturers. \n\"We view ourselves as the quiet partner,\" he says, \"just trying to make the experience that they're creating even better. If they come out with Apple TV, we'll certainly look at what we can do there.\"\nOtherwise, Darrell was pretty tight-lipped about the product pipeline. He did say this: \"We have a stream of innovation that will keep coming.\"\nThere's more detail and a personal surprise from Darrell in the video interview above. Watch and then tell us in the comments below how your rate Logitech\u2019s chances for a turnaround.\n*[Editor's Note: An earlier version of this post mischaracterized Logitech's business performance. Logitech's sales dropped 14%, not revenues. We regret the error.]\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/02/07/logitech-ceo-innovatio/>