Japanese electronics company Fujitsu spun off its PC business into a wholly owned subsidiary a few years ago. Now it’s not-so-wholly owned anymore. Lenovo has announced that it’s acquiring a 51 percent stake in Fujitsu Client Computing Limited (FCCL), while the Development Bank of Japan is purchasing another 5 percent.
The move means that FCCL will become a joint venture that’s co-owned by the three companies.
The plan is to continue selling new PCs under the Fujitsu name. But the deal means that Fujitsu and Lenovo will both play a role in marketing and selling the computers.
Lenovo is one of the world’s top PC makers in terms of global sales, while Fujitsu has primarily focused on the Japanese market and to a lesser degree Europe. The company’s computers aren’t very common in the US anymore.
It’s unclear if the new arrangement will change that, but Lenovo does say FCCL “will benefit from Lenovo’s global scale and presence,” which hints that the deal could lead to wider distribution of Fujitsu-branded computers.
I hope it doesn’t mean future badge engineering of Fujitsu computers. I have always had tremendous respect for the quality of Fujitsu laptops. Lenovo, not so much.
Fujitsu’s PCs are really good too. They make their own motherboards but don’t horribly break interfaces so I could install extension cards (serial port for a Xerox printer) unlike other OEM boxes I tried. They also update their firmwares fairly promptly. Even their bundled driver updating software is good stuff and it doesn’t try to pile up your system with all sorts of junk which is a HUGE plus.
Good purchase for lenovo.
Yep, Fujitsu is quality kit. I fear for what Lenovo with do to it.
What does this mean for Fujitsu-Tablets?
This means Japanese businesses will be buying Lenovo, just like US businesses. A very good move by Lenovo.