We wrote this story on 6 May. And now it's come true. After a failed PC dalliance with Acer, Siemens has tempted Fujitsu into bed. Its dowry is a middling-huge, heavily-loss making PC assembly business. Fujitsu will merge its European PC operations into the Siemens PC operations, including its German budget PC subsidiary Aquarius. And it will take over Siemens assembly plant. There should be scope for job cuts here, especially as German unions are not quite the force the once were. This catapults Fujitsu into the world's top tier of PC manufacturers, with an annual output capacity of four million units. We regard the deal as a staging post for Siemen's exit from the PC business. Forget any protestations that the company will retain R&D capabilities: In effect, Siemens will become a reseller or agent for Fujitsu PCs. Siemens has been looking for a partner for its PC business since the collapse of a deal with Acer last year. The sticking point that time around was Siemen's refusal to agree to the volume order committments sought by Acer. ®