As the Japanese phone market continues to contract, companies find themselves either exiting the segment or allying with their rivals. The latter was the case of Sanyo and Kyocera, now working together and their example will also be followed by Fujitsu and Toshiba, that will merge their mobile units.
The new partnership will create Japan’s number two phone maker, behind Sharp and this alliance takes the number of handset makers in the country down to 6, from 10 in 2007. We all know that Japan is technologically years ahead of many countries, but their problem is saturation and the fact that the handsets must comply with the requirements of local carriers.
Carriers require standard specs, so there’s little room for differentiated products and variety in the public’s options. Fujitsu is said to own the majority stake when the deal gets going, but the transaction is not finalized yet.
[via Engadget]
