Made in Taiwan

6 June 2005 By Marianne Brun-Rovet

Most mobile handset alliances have failed in the past. And this tieup between the Taiwanese and German groups looks to be no mouldbreaker. Much depends on whether the deal will give Siemens investors a real exit from the lossmaking business.

This content is for Subscribers only

Context News

Siemens is to form a joint venture with Taiwan's BenQ, a spinoff of PC maker Acer, for its lossmaking mobile handsets business, according to the Financial Times Deutschland.

The German conglomerate has long been looking for a partner for its mobile handset arm, which made a loss of E280m in the first half of 2005 and has slipped to sixth from fourth place in global rankings. China's Ningbo Bird, Korea's LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics have also been mentioned as potential partners.

Neither Siemens not BenQ would confirm the report. But Siemens said its supervisory board was due to meet on Monday to discuss the future of the mobile business. The unit employs 10,000 workers, of which 6,000 are in Germany, and has plants in Germany, Brazil and China.

BenQ, formerly Acer Peripherals, manufactures LCD screens and handsets and is one of the leaders in the Taiwanese markets.

Email a friend

Please complete the form below.

Required fields *