Home
Mobiles
Mobiles News
NEC to exit smartphone business after failed deal with Lenovo: Report

NEC to exit smartphone business after failed deal with Lenovo: Report

By Reuters | Updated: 17 July 2013 16:40 IST

Japan's NEC Corp plans to exit its loss-making smartphone business after a deal with Chinese PC maker Lenovo Group Ltd failed to materialize, the Nikkei reported.

The two companies have a partnership in the personal computers business and NEC was in talks with Lenovo for a deal for its smartphones operations since late 2012, the Japanese daily reported.

The Japanese electronics company had offered Lenovo a majority stake in NEC Casio Mobile Communications Ltd, its subsidiary that makes smartphones. Casio Computer Co and Hitachi Ltd are among NEC Casio's current investors.

NEC, once a market leader in the smartphones business in Japan, currently has a market share of about 5 percent, the business daily said.

The Japanese company will now focus on conventional handsets and plans to sell some of its mobile phone-related patents, according to the Nikkei.

NEC will reassign majority of NEC Casio employees to other group firms, the paper said.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.