Fujitsu will take over Toshiba’s smartphone business

FACED WITH smartphone competition from all sides, Fujitsu has decided to take over Toshiba's mobile phone business.

The companies have announced they will merge, with Toshiba transferring its mobile phone business to a new company in October with Fujitsu acquiring the majority stake.

It will create Japan's second largest mobile phone maker, and is aimed at strengthening their hand against incoming smartphone threats from companies like Apple, HTC and RIM.

For instance, as in the UK and US there is a deluge of interest in the upcoming Iphone 4, with many people queuing outside outlets in Tokyo looking to place pre-orders.

This is what the merged business will have to deal with, and by combining their resources the two companies hope to have a chance of heading off the threats.

It will be second largest mobile phone maker behind Sharp, but so far it has little presence overseas. However, in their joint statement, they did say that they wanted to develop handsets for both within and outside Japan.

Earlier this month, NEC, Hitachi and Casio also combined to create a single mobile phone company.

The final deal between the two companies will be signed in July. µ