The big rumor out of Japan today has NEC locked in heated negotiations with existing joint venture Casio Hitachi Mobile Communications to add itself into the mix — a JV that’s currently a 51 / 49 percent ownership split between Casio and Hitachi, respectively — with NEC wanting to pick up a total of 50 percent of the combined operation. Japan’s one of the more competitive, low-margin mobile markets in the world (just ask Mitsubishi) so it makes sense that a lot of these guys would be looking to consolidate and work on their sourcing scales of economy; if it happens, the rumor has the deal targeted for an April 2010 close that would make the combined operation the second-largest in the market at 20 percent share behind Sharp at 23 percent. Does this mean they’ll be more friendly toward the crazy idea of wide-scale North American launches, by chance? Please?
[Via MobileCrunch]
Filed under: Cellphones
NEC rumored to want in on Casio Hitachi joint venture originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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