The rumors were true – Toshiba and Fujitsu are merging their mobile phone businesses in a move that will create Japan’s second largest handset maker, after Sharp — the new company will hold 18.7% of the market, whereas Sharp has a 26.2% share.
In addition to straightening their position on the domestic market, the two companies plan to expand outside of Japan.
Under the deal, Toshiba will transfer its mobile phone business to a new company set for launch in October and Fujitsu will acquire the majority of shares, effectively taking control of the Toshiba unit.
We still don’t know what will be the name of the new company (Fujitsu-Toshiba, perhaps?), or whether both Fujitsu and Toshiba-branded handsets will continue to be sold.
Fujitsu sells its phones to Japan’s leading mobile operator – NTT DoCoMo, while Toshiba mostly sells to the second ranked KDDI. In addition, Toshiba is also trying to push its handsets in other markets and we’ve seen the company developing few Windows Mobile-powered smartphones, including the K01 which is one of the most anticipated smartphones today.
Fujitsu and Toshiba plan to sign a final contract at the end of July.
[Via: Yahoo]