Fujitsu Siemens aims for top two PC slot

Fujitsu and Siemens today cemented the merger of their European operations, with the new company aiming to be Europe’s number two PC vendor. The two agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) so, providing both companies are in the positions stated in discussions, the merger will go ahead. The new company, called Fujitsu Siemens, will start on 1 October, according to Brian Taylor, Fujitsu UK MD. There will be no redundancies, he said, describing any organisational changes as "relatively minor". "Today’s move positions us better in Europe and especially in the UK. I have just told my own staff at Fujitsu, and they were very positive," said Taylor. Taylor said the move will greatly increase Fujitsu’s standing in Europe. Before today, the Japanese company held the number eight slot for PCs in Europe, and Siemens number six. "We’ve now put ourselves in the same field as the top vendors in Europe, we’ll jump to number two, ahead of Dell," he said. "When you’re at the top of the tree, customers and your channel take you more seriously and are more interested." In Intel servers, Fujitsu was sixth in Europe, and Siemens fourth. Taylor said the new company would be a strong rival to Hewlett-Packard in this field. Globally, Fujitsu and Siemens have moved from twelfth and ninth place respectively to the fifth biggest PC vendor. Taylor said the company would offer a greater range of product, combining Fujitsu’s consumer and professional LAN-based PCs with Siemens’ servers and enterprise solution products. "By bringing the two together, we will conquer two markets, without forcing either company out of business." In Europe, there would be no overlap, and the two had already begun discussing joint R&D, he said. "From the inside, I can see no indication of Siemens exiting the PC business." The European business will combine 8,000 Siemens and 1,600 Fujitsu staff. The company president and country MDs are still under discussion, as is the Fujitsu Siemens headquarters, although the Netherlands is believed to be as strong candidate.