YARMOUTH – DeLorme, a Yarmouth-based mapping company, announced Monday it is laying off 52 workers because of a slump in its consumer digital business, which includes products like AAA Map ‘n’ Go.

The layoffs, which were part of a reorganization and a shift in corporate focus, will reduce DeLorme’s work force by 26 percent.

“It is always difficult and very agonizing when such dynamic business decisions must be made,” said Gordon Pow, president and chief operating officer. “Unfortunately, economic conditions well beyond our control, quickly changing market conditions and newly emerging opportunities mandate this change.”

Pow said the company’s new focus on the scientific and professional markets will require the establishment of a new division with 50 people to develop and market new leading edge products priced from $100 to $2,500.

The refocusing will permit DeLorme to effectively triple its multimillion-dollar research and development budget, he said.

The consumer digital business, which includes software like AAA Map’n’Go, Topo USA and Street Atlas, has declined considerably since the Sept. 11 attacks, Pow said, with the mapping category down as much as 30 percent to 50 percent.

Because of the market uncertainty and the mature market segment, the company will have fewer packages and offerings, he said.

Pow emphasized that DeLorme, which was founded in 1976, remains “a very financially sound company and we intend to remain so for many years to come. We are doing what is necessary to remain successful for the next 25 or more years.”

DeLorme provides mapping products and digital technologies for the consumer, business and professional markets. In addition to software, it also publishes a series of map books for all 50 states.