Plaxo is phasing out its social network features as it prepares for a major relaunch on March 16 (details later) and moves back to its roots: managing users address books.

Justin Miller, CEO of Plaxo said, "Facebook and LinkedIn already do a pretty good job in the social network space and fulfill most users' needs. We have already begun phasing out our social network features."

After 9 years Plaxo is returning to its core focus, helping users manage multiple address books. The company will unveil new services next week.

Plaxo, a Comcast company, has renewed its ambitions to become the primary address book service for mobile business professionals. Mr Miller said that the decision to leave social networking was made following a year-long project looking at how Plaxo should move forward. Mr Miller joined Plaxo about 18 months ago.

"The address book problem has not gone away, in fact it has become more important now because of the many different address books that people have."

Check back March 16 for more information on Plaxo's relaunch.