14 DAY TRIAL // In early July, Fujitsu Siemens, one of the leading computer systems manufacturers, was said to be planning a separation, which would have also marked the end of the company's PC business. Recent reports come to support the initial story, as the two companies involved in the German-Japanese venture are allegedly expected to announce an impending separation. Things are apparently heading towards a Fujitsu buyout of Siemens' half share in the Fujitsu Siemens Computers (FSC) joint venture, for half a billion dollars. After this, reports have it, Fujitsu will sell off its PC and retail side of the business to Lenovo.
A recent Bloomberg report indicates that a sum of between 50 and 60 billion yen is involved, and a possible announcement regarding it could be made as early as next week. Coming to support the current reports, Siemens is also said to be looking forward to leaving the joint venture, taking its FSC JV capital to invest elsewhere.
If reports are accurate, Fujitsu will be gaining a major advantage in Europe, along with a significant beachhead in several business segments, including proprietary BS2000 mainframe, SPARC and industry-standard server lines, plus FibreCAT drive array products, and others. The company will also receive the PC and notebook business, which it will apparently be planning to sell off.
A spokesman for Fujitsu said that the two companies were currently undergoing negations, which means that, for the time being, no final decision has yet been reached. An official comment from a Siemens representative is still to come.
The German-Japanese joint venture was established on October 1, 1999, while its employees currently count approximately 10,500 people. The company is said to have recorded sales of €6.61bn in its last financial year, which ended on March 31. FSC recorded a profit of just €105m, 1.6 % of its revenues. This is also one of the possible reasons why the joint venture is expected to come to an end.