Fujitsu Limited is in discussions to potentially offload its personal computer business operations onto Chinese hardware giant, Lenovo Group, according to reports.
The two companies are said to come to an agreement as early as this month, with one proposed form of the deal set to see Fujitsu transfer its PC manufacturing, development, and design operations to a Lenovo-led joint venture, according to media outlet, Nikkei Asian Review.
Another proposal would see Lenovo take a majority stake in the Japanese technology company’s PC business, with around 2000 Fujitsu employees, transferred to Lenovo’s operational jurisdiction.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Fujistu has confirmed it is in talks to either offload or outsource the operations of its PC business to a third party, saying that it is, “considering various options for the PC unit, including a possible deal with Lenovo”.
"In February this year, Fujitsu split off its PC business and is currently considering various possibilities, including what is being reported, but a decision has not yet been made," the company told ARN in a statement.
"Fujitsu will promptly announce matters that require disclosure as they arise."
Regardless of the outcome of its ongoing discussions, it is generally understood that Fujitsu is looking to ease back on its PC business operations in order to focus other areas that represent a higher priority to the company, such as its IT services business.
Like NEC’s deal with Lenovo in 2011 for a joint venture between the companies, which effectively resulted in the creation of the largest single PC maker in Japan at the time, the negotiations between Lenovo and Fujitsu could help Fujitsu tap into Lenovo’s additional scale and market dominance.
“Lenovo is the right partner at the right time for NEC, and we believe that we are creating a strategic relationship today that will benefit NEC and our customers for many years to come," NEC president, Nobuhiro Endo, said at the time.
“We believe this alliance will further reinforce and expand our PC business in Japan, upholding the NEC brand name and will continue to provide Japanese PC users with products supported by high quality and service.
"Taking this strategic relationship as a first step, NEC will accelerate expansion of our IT business worldwide."
Today, Lenovo has a reputation as being the largest PC vendor in the world, with Gartner estimating that the company held about 20.3 per cent of the global market share, in terms of shipment volume, during the fourth quarter of 2015.
Over the past few years, Lenovo has snapped up hardware businesses from some of the world’s largest technology companies.
IBM sold off its x86 server business to Lenovo in 2014, the same year the company completed its acquisition of the Motorola Mobility handset business from Google.
