Whether Lenovo will buy Samsung’s PC business remains in dispute. But another reported deal is nearing reality with the world’s No. 1 PC maker expecting to soon absorb Fujitu’s computer business.
Fujitu President Tatsuya Tanaka has told Chinese and Japanese media that he expects to close a deal with Lenovo for his company’s PC business before the firm’s fiscal year ends in March 2017. Tanaka made his comments late last week.
The news comes as reports of major Lenovo layoffs emerge in Brazil where the company is cutting 4,200 of 5,000 jobs, according to the Valor newspaper.
“The integration may take place in fiscal 2017, Tanaka said in an interview,” according to the Japan Times.
A similar report was published at China Tech News.
Tanaka’s comments are the most definitive to date about a deal since Fujitsu and Lenovo confirmed they were talking about some kind of “strategic cooperation” in late October.
But Japan Times pointed out that Lenovo is not adding a booming business to it arsenal. “[I]ts PC business [is]slumping on the back of the shrinking PC market amid the growing popularity of smartphones,” the newspaper noted.
“Fujitsu’s PC brand, FMV, will be kept intact, but it is believed that Lenovo will take the lead in the PC operations after the integration.”
Rumors broke in late November that Lenovo also might buy Samsung’s PC group.
An aggressive acquisition strategy of PC rivals has been a Lenovo driver since the China-born company first broke onto the international scene with the purchase of IBM’s Raleigh-based PC business in 2005. That group became the hub around which Lenovo has created its Triangle operations and second global executive headquarters. (The other is in Beijing.)
Japan-based NEC ultimately sold controlling interest in its PC business to Lenovo, and Japan has become a major hub for Lenovo not only for production but also device design.
With HP sales surging, Lenovo could very well see its No. 1 ranking toppled when statistics for the fourth quarter of 2016 are disclosed early next year.
