Siemens to sell PC stake to Fujitsu

Siemens has today confirmed that it is indeed selling its half of the Fujitsu Siemens PC joint venture to its partner Fujitsu for 450 million (363.5 million).

The joint venture, which began in 1999 and employs over 10,000 people mostly in Germany, manufactures a range of desktop and server computers under the joint Fujitsu Siemens brand.

Fujitsu said it hoped the acquisition would help it compete more effectively against the likes of IBM, HP and Dell in key markets such as the UK, Europe and the Middle East.

"Fully integrating Fujitsu Siemens into Fujitsu fits perfectly into our global growth strategy," said Kuniaki Nozoe, president of Fujitsu.

"We're inheriting a strong customer base in EMEA and an R&D capability that can support our global products development."

IT PRO reported in September that Siemens was expected to sell out its stake to Fujitsu, as it has been spinning off non-core businesses for some time in order to focus more resources on its power, energy and health services divisions. There is also concern that the market for desktop PCs is going to shrink significantly in the face of falling consumer spending.

Fujitsu said it had not made any decisions about FSC's consumer PC business, which generates about 20 per cent of the company's sales. There have been media reports that Fujitsu would pull out of the business after the acquisition.

Fujitsu said it had no plans for any job cuts. The deal will be concluded in April 2009.

(Additional reporting from Reuters)