Fujitsu has confirmed that it is in talks with Lenovo about selling its PC business as the potential deal to work with Toshiba (and possibly Vaio) has never come to fruition. Lenovo has not commented on the report, but took over the NEC PC business in Japan in 2011 and the FT reports that a combination would give Lenovo 40% of the Japanese market. Fujitsu said that a sale was one of a range of options that it is exploring for the business.
Shares of Fujitsu rose on the news and the Nikkei said that a deal might be concluded this month and that several options, including a possible joint venture, are on the table.
Analyst Comment
The idea of creating a ‘national champion’ from the Fujitsu, Toshiba and Vaio businesses always looked like a typical Japanese ‘MITI’ solution. There might have been some logic as the companies were strong in different parts of the market. However, the corporate cultures were very different and that would have meant a slow coming together and without attachment to a bigger business, it would not have solved the fundamental problem of scale, but merely “kicked the can down the road” and a further crisis would have arisen again. (BR)
