Fujitsu Siemens set for divorce?

 

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By Barry Collins and Reuters

Posted on 22 Sep 2008 at 11:57

Fujitsu is set to take sole control of the Fujitsu Siemens joint venture, according to reports in German newspapers.

The reports claim Siemens is willing to sell its stake in the joint company to its partner. Fujitsu would then sell on the end-user part of the firm, as it is mostly interested in the commercial customer business.

A possible buyer is Chinese computer maker Lenovo, which bought IBM's PC division in 2005 and is now ranked as the fourth biggest PC maker in the world.

The Fujitsu Siemens venture was launched in 1999, with the companies' joint expertise ranging from handheld computers to full-scale enterprise servers.

Fujitsu Siemens says negotiations between the two partners about the future of the joint venture are ongoing, while Siemens declined to comment.

The German-Japanese venture will be automatically extended for another five years from 2009 if neither partner gives notice this year that it wants to get out.