[ICOM] Is 1.2GHZ FM dead?

[John Geiger]

Have the equipment manufactureres given up on 23cm FM?  There are currently no 1.2Ghz HTs available in the US-the Kenwood TH59 might still be available in Japan, but was never marketed in the US.  And the only 1.2GHZ FM mobile radio available is from Icom, the ID-1, which is only being offered to support its D-STAR mode.  It really isn't being marketed as a FM radio.

When you go back to the late 80s and 90s, there were plent of 23cm HTs available:

Icom-12AT, 12GAT, X2A, X21A, T81A, Delta 1A
Kenwood-TH55, TH89
Yaesu-FT2303, FT911, FT104

And probably a few I forgot. So it seems that the big 3 have given up on 1.2GHZ as they have on 222, and 1.2GHZ is a worldwide band.

Any ideas as to what is going on?

73s John NE0P