Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Logitech International SA, the biggest maker of computer mice, will cut 15 percent of its non- manufacturing jobs and withdrew its fiscal 2009 profit targets because of the deepening global recession.

The shares slumped the most in almost three years in Swiss trading. Logitech will eliminate 500 positions and may reduce its 5,500 factory jobs, Chairman Guerrino De Luca said in an interview today. The “weakness” in demand is “across all geographies and channels,” Logitech said in a statement.

“The situation is really bad,” De Luca said by telephone. “We’re on really shaky grounds with the consumer. The situation is really unprecedented.”

Logitech, based in Romanel-sur-Morges, Switzerland, joins Sony Corp., Royal Philips Electronics NV and Motorola Inc. in announcing job cuts as the earnings outlook for electronics makers deteriorates. Worldwide spending on information-technology products will shrink 4 percent this year as the global economy contracts, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimated last month.

On Oct. 21, Logitech reduced its fiscal 2009 sales and profit forecasts, citing concerns over slowing economic growth. It projected operating income to rise as much as 5 percent on revenue growth of up to 8 percent. The company previously estimated 15 percent expansion in both measures.

Logitech said today it will take an unspecified one-time charge in the fourth quarter ending March 31.

Shares Drop

Logitech, which also makes speakers for Apple Inc.’s iPod digital music player, dropped 9.2 percent, or 1.65 Swiss francs, to 16.36 francs, the steepest decline since Jan. 19, 2006. That reduced the company’s market value to 3.1 billion francs ($2.8 billion). The stock tumbled 61 percent in 2008, compared with a 35 percent decline in the benchmark Swiss Market Index.

De Luca said today he isn’t expecting a loss in the fiscal third and fourth quarters. He declined to elaborate. The Swiss company is scheduled to report third-quarter profit on Jan. 20.

“Earnings risk has increased sharply at Logitech,” Credit Suisse Group analyst Christoph Gretler wrote in a note to clients today. He has a “neutral” rating on the stock. “We think that the market might well underestimate the severity of the likely earnings cuts.”

Savings from the job reductions will be reflected from the fiscal first quarter, Logitech said. The company didn’t provide revised financial targets. Logitech has more than 9,000 employees, according to its Web site.

The economic environment will probably “worsen in the coming months” in what is “likely to be an extended downturn,” Chief Executive Officer Gerald Quindlen said in the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Tan in Singapore at atan17@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 6, 2009 12:10 EST