Fujitsu Acquires Toshiba’s Stake in Mobile Joint Venture

Fujitsu Arrows Kiss handset (F-03D)

Some readers might recall our look at the Japanese smartphone market last month which showed that the iPhone had become the top dog for the first time, taking the first spot over Sharp in Q4 2011. Until that quarter, which saw Apple take a huge jump with the success of the iPhone 4S, it had also had less market share than Fujitsu/Toshiba [1].

Those two companies had merged their mobile businesses back in 2010, but today Fujistu (TYO:6702) announced that it has received Toshiba’s 19.9 percent ownership stake in that business, which will now be called Fujitsu Mobile Communications.

Apple’s success in Japan has been making domestic phone makers like Fujitsu look to markets abroad. When NEC announced job cuts a few months back (most from its mobile unit), it cited foreign smartphone players as one of the factors negatively affecting its business. And while Fujitsu still had 18.3 percent of the domestic market in Q4 2011, it intends to compete in the US and Europe smartphone markets.

Meanwhile Panasonic (TYO:6752), another Japanese handset maker, has just announced that it’s shifting all mobile phone production to China and Malaysia, possibly as early as this summer. Like Fujitsu, Panasonic is also eyeing the overseas market, with its Eluga handset scheduled for a European release this month.

Whether or not either of these companies can significantly improve their businesses by snagging new customers overseas remains to be seen. Both push waterproofing as a selling point in their phones, which seems to be in high demand in Japan, but I don’t think it’s a feature that overseas customers care about so much.