Who would buy the Panasonic handset business unit?
Daniel Shen, Taipei; Jackie Chang, DIGITIMES [Wednesday 20 March 2013]
Japan-based Panasonic reportedly plans to sell its handset business unit. Industry observers believe China-based firms might be interested, but the chances of the Japan vendor reaching a deal to sell the unit are low.
Japan's handsets require advanced technologies and firms have been investing heavily into R&D teams. However, most firms have been focused mainly on the domestic market and the lack of economies of scale has been causing many firms to see continuous net losses.
In addition, Japan-based telecom carriers have introduced international brands such as Apple, Samsung Electronics and HTC, creating competition with domestic firms.
Japan-based handset makers have been going through consolidations such as the handset business unit merger between Fujitsu and Toshiba, and Kyocera and Sanyo. Furthermore, the handset business units of NEC, Casio and Hitachi also merged into one.
Panasonic, one of the few Japan-based brands that still has its own handset business unit, is reportedly selling the unit and firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and HTC are reportedly among the list of potential buyers.
Handset makers noted that the possibility for TSMC to procure Panasonic's handset division is close to zero. HTC may increase market share in Japan by acquiring the business unit from Panasonic, but with the firm's current financial condition and past procurement record, it is unlikely HTC will buy another handset brand.
Handset makers added that China-based firms might have interest in buying the business unit. However, handset makers added, the procurement of a large number of staff and assets to increase a small percentage of market share in Japan does not seem profitable.
Industry sources believe Panasonic should hold on to the handset brand and cooperate with Taiwan- or China-based ODM firms in product R&D and production. This type of cooperation is also likely to give Panasonic's handset business a chance to expand into the international market.
