Pantech Co., South Korea's smallest smartphone manufacturer, said Wednesday it is giving up on talks with a local carrier on slashing the factory price of its smartphones, less than a week after the carrier unilaterally announced it was lowering the price tag. "We have given up on a deal for lowering the price (of the Vega Secret Up), as there has been no progress with LG Uplus on the matter," a Pantech official said.