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Roger
BTW, I would like to see Junko´s ideas about .
Roger
Fujitsu said to want out of chip business
Peter Clarke
9/24/2012 6:22 AM EDT
LONDON – Information and communications technology company Fujitsu Ltd. (Tokyo) has hired Swiss financial services firm UBS AG to help with the sale of its semiconductor business, according to a Bloomberg report, which cited unnamed sources.
Fujitsu is one of a number of troubled Japanese technology companies that are seeking to re-organize themselves. Renesas Electronics Corp.--formed from the semiconductor businesses of Hitachi, NEC and Mitsubishi Electric--is struggling as it tries to implement a restructuring plan. DRAM company Elpida Memory Inc. is set to be acquired by Micron Technology Inc. (Boise, Idaho) and Sharp Corp. is also seeking financial support to implement a restructuring plan.
Some confusion was caused recently when Fujitsu Semiconductor Ltd. announced that certain LSI assembly and test facilities were being transferred to J-Devices Corp., which was mis-reported as an exit from semiconductor manufacturing by Fujitsu.
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Like many other Japanese semiconductor companies, Fujitsu has been hurt by a slump in the sales of Japanese flat screen televisions and as the consumer electronics business has migrated towards Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Apple Inc.
Fujitsu's chip business could be worth 200 billion yen (about $2.6 billion), according to the report.
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eewiz
9/24/2012 6:58 AM EDT
I am sure everyone here saw this coming. The question was when?
So whats the plan? Sell to China?
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microe
9/24/2012 4:42 PM EDT
Japan has the technology, while China has the resources, manufacturing and market. There is not much direct competition. It will be great for both sides if they could team up together. Unfortunately, it is not happening and is unlikely to happen any time soon due to those stupid politicians. Look at Samsung and Fujitsu. Feel sorry for Japan.
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Roger
9/24/2012 4:51 PM EDT
Peter,
Apparently Fujitsu is not going to be added to Renesas to create a big japanese semiconductor player !
But Fujitsu is a good option for an american company that is not strong in Automotive and in the japanese market.
Just look to the good example of ON Semi , after the acquision of Sanyo Semiconductor.
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peter.clarke
9/25/2012 4:40 AM EDT
@Roger
I agree with you.
Junko Yoshida could speak more authoritatively on this, but I understand that culturally and politically takeovers of local companies and divisions by overseas companies are not well-liked in Japan, more so than elsewhere...which partially explains the situation they are in.
However, I don't see any Japanese buyers or aggregators coming forward.
It seems clear that a Chinese buyer would be unacceptable, particularly at this time.
Also the Fujitsu manufacturing profile has to be considered and who it could fit with. Samsung might be a fit but a Korean acquistion would be almost as politically difficult as a Chinese one.
Europe's semiconductor companies are mainly going fab-lite and not buying very much right now which probably leaves a U.S. company as the most likely buyer.
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Roger
9/25/2012 5:37 PM EDT
Peter,
Very good explanation.
I recognize that my thinking didn´t go that deep !
Roger
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Roger
9/25/2012 5:39 PM EDT
BTW, I would like to see Junko´s ideas about .
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GREAT-Terry
9/25/2012 11:11 AM EDT
It is so say that Japanese once was a leader in semiconductor but now none of them are able to survive well. Probably many will finally ended as a subsidiary of a US company. The question is how much these Japanese companies bring in. The only thing I can think of is the Japanese market which traditionally is not easy or be friendly enough for foreign companies.
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