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| Hitachi, NEC, Casio mulling to integrate mob phone biz |
| Kyodo/PTI / Tokyo Aug 28, 2009, 13:15 IST |
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Hitachi Ltd, NEC Corp and Casio Computer Co are considering to integrate their mobile phone businesses as early as next April in a bid to improve profitability in the saturated domestic market, industry sources said today.
If realised, the three would have a combined share of more than 20 percent in the Japanese mobile phone market, drawing close to Sharp Corp, the biggest cellphone maker in Japan in terms of market share in fiscal 2008 at 23 percent.
The move could inspire further industry consolidation, analysts say.
NEC is negotiating to take an equity stake of more than 50 percent in a joint venture called Casio Hitachi Mobile Communications Co, which was founded in 2004 by Casio and Hitachi, according to the sources.
Casio has a 51 percent stake in the joint firm and Hitachi the remainder.
At present, NEC supplies its mobile phones to cellphone service provider NTT Docomo Inc and Softbank Mobile Corp while Hitachi makes KDDI Corp's 'au' handsets and Casio serves KDDI and Softbank. The three firms are believed to be trying to combine their operations in order to slash development and materials procurement costs as well as boost sales, the sources said.
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