Liquid Force closing the kiteboarding division

It looks like Liquid Force is stepping down from kitesurfing, focusing more on other watersports, with main focus on Foiling from now on.

Here is a message from Liquid Force:

A note to the industry and clients from John Archer, CEO of Kent Water Sports Holdings LLC and Don Wallace, Sr. VP / GM Liquid Force on June 25th stated:

Excerpt:
“We regret to inform you that we have decided to wind down our Liquid Force Kite division over the next 30+/- days. Rest assured this decision was not taken lightly and we want to thank all Liquid Force associates who have worked diligently throughout the uncertainty over the last few months of Covid-19 and economic crisis as well as the many years of dedication.

“To clarify, the Liquid Force brand will remain strong and vital in the water sports industry. Additionally, if you have not heard, Liquid Force recently acquired Freedom Foil Boards, a surf / foil brand based out of southern California. Together with Liquid Force Wake, we plan to take the focus we had on kite products and place new focus and Relentless Innovation onto foils for all water sports. This will be managed out of our Carlsbad, California office.

“Our Hood River office will be closing effective 3/30/20, after which time customer service and warranty inquiries will be managed out of the Carlsbad office. While we do not plan to order any new inventory, we will do our best to handle all warranty claims, repairs, etc. over a reasonable period of time.”

A kitesurfing brand that has to close down is always sad. Is it because of Corona, because of the market which is not growing so fast anymore, or because of kitesurfing becoming too expensive material sport nowadays?