CeBIT 2009: Fujitsu and Siemens to Split Up

All that will be left of the 10-year-old merger of Fujitsu and Siemens are the two letters "ji" from the Fujitsu name. The term "ji" derives from the Japanese pronunciation of Siemens ("jiimensu") when the two companies first cooperated in 1936. The new company name wasn't revealed at the CeBIT conference, but the fact is Siemens is no longer a shareholder at Fujitsu, although it remains a partner and customer. The split-up follows the already announced cost saving measures that are also to include some lay-offs.

Fujitsu continues to see Germany as a key market, according to Bernd Wagner, Germany's managing director at Fujitsu Siemens. R&D should continue to increase in that country: the Fujitsu Siemens locations in Augsburg, Sömmerda and Munich continued to come up in Wagner's presentation at CeBIT. Wagner also named India as an additional market that Fujitsu plans to pursue.