Siemens mobile phone division to close down

I wouldn't mind betting on Moto taking over. They would like the extra 6% or so market share, and that market share is mainly in Europe which is Moto's weakest region. Rumour has it they have been doing a lot of due diligence on Siemen's suppliers lately.

well, at least it's fixed now. For those who asked, we are being made into a wholly-owned subsidiary by October. We are still lookig for a partner, and the CFO has said Siemens would be prepared to give up the majority ownership.

So whatever happens we will be something like "Siemens Devices GmbH" (same type of set-up as Osram), and whether we then become "Siemens-Moto GmbH" or something else is still completely open.

The main thing is... closure is not an option, business continues as normal.

Reuters article on this FYI:

reuters on Siemens mobile carve-out

Well, that's good news, then - I know a few folk who were worried they were going to lose their jobs.
Good stuff

Yes, good news for all concerned.

I followed the announcements today and too be honest, I'm not exactly too optimistic. Siemens mobile will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens AG, but this is obviously just a temporary solution, as the financial statements of Siemens mobile GmbH (or whatever it'll be named) will still be incorporated 100% in the Siemens balance sheet, meaning that nothing changes from stock market point of view.

Next step must be to find one or more "strategic partner(s)". This could either be a big player like Motorola or Acer, or a number of smaller companies "along the product development cycle". Both possibilities mean imho that sooner or later R&D and especially production will be at least partly outsourced to or taken over by the strategic partner(s).
The whole reorganization may take some years, but I don't think that Kamp-Lintfort (Siemens' only mobile phone production facitlity in Germany) will survive this whole process, and I expect that also the R&D sites will at least face difficult times.

yes, I agree.

Unless of course the new company gets its act together and becomes aggressive and fast, proving that it can remain in this market even with highly paid German production and R&D.

See new below from AFX, any insider info on what is happening?

Last week at a product launch in Beijing - the VP of Motorola China was asked about the rumour of Motorola buying over the Siemens business - the VP refused to comment on the rumour.

I heard in this morning's FAZ that Motorola has pulled out of the purchase at the eleventh hour.

Anyone has news?? Or special insight?

JM

is siemens mobile division heading to korea - see article from "the register"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/10/siemens_korea/

I don't know if Siemens Mobile Phone is headed for Korea. But Pantech\Curitel is one of the most aggressive mobile phone company that you can find in Korea. It fights head to head with Samsung and LG even though it is a much smaller company. It OEMs for American brands like Audiovox and several Chinese brands - it has both CDMA and GSM capabilities. It is however a small company - I don't think it is in a financial position to invest in Siemens Mobile Phone - but I wish it had -as it will bring along alot of technology, vision and alot more wits and balls than the current Siemens Mobile Phone management - as many of their managers quit big companies like Motorola and Samsung in order to start the company. In other words it will be a breadth of fresh air - compared to the current lot of managers you get in Siemens - dull, unimaginative and German centric.

JM

Siemens Mobile is a goner. If anyone thinks some white knight will come along to save the day then they are as stupid as the management of that division. There is basically nothing worth saving from there, no decent products, no leadership, very poor engineers, poor marketing with no ideas, lazy manufacturing and everything else I can think of is poor. So, I am not at all surprised that if a potential partner or parent comes along they decide to walk away after looking closer. The only reason for buying is to get a foot into the market, but that's all. If a parent comes along and buys, then you watch the axe fall.

I worked there for a while and it was simply the most unbelievable experience of my professional life. The sheer laziness and incompetence was astounding, and their total blindness to what was "the bleeding obvious" is legendary within a small circle of right minded people who've had any association with the place. In all honesty they deserve to be shut-down, Siemens AG must stop it soon and this is what they have started to do already on the quiet. They have absolutely no idea about the market and they have no idea at all how to compete with the competition from the east, let alone the west.

There were quite a few good people there, and I think it would do them good to be made redundant...harsh words, but they will always find work elsewhere, good people usually do. But for all those useless idiots who basically screwed it up for Siemens Mobile and subsequently for Com too...serves you right.

will be public today; BenQ is the partner, according to FTD

Well, let's see who goes and stays... going to be an interesting few weeks. I'm very relaxed

Hi JB,

any idea exactly what they mean by "Partnershcaft"? Joint-venture? or is this just a political jargon for a take-over?

Wow, German is such a lovely language... especially for business...


kinda just rolls off the tongue, doesnn't it?

yep, the best language and culture you could possibly use to out-perform in a consumer-driven market... their translations into english are simply hilarious (or depressing: "We welcome ideas to improve tomorrow" was my favourite, like "we can't be arsed, but if you want to help us you're welcome to make suggestions")...

ho hum. Whether the Taiwanese can do better?...

There's an Aufsichtsrat this afternoon, so I've covered my crystal ball until then

IG Metall are claiming (on yahoo) that they will demand that Siemens keeps the majority holding. But Siemens made it clear in April that they neither want nor intend to keep it. So my guess would be the brand name stays, but BenQ gets the majority ownership.

fine by me if I get a job there. BenQ has some skills in terms of other consumer electronics that could be of great use. Speaking of cheap TFT displays for example.

BenQ is apparently not just a business partner.

This article says that BenQ, incidentally an Acer spin-off, will be taking over Siemens Mobile in its entirety September 30, including all 10,000 employees.

well to be exact
"BenQ will take over all development and manufacturing locations, and related central functions such as marketing, sales and supply chain management"

but the way the deal has been made it seems that the siemens management was quite desparate to get rid of this very visible symbol of siemens. its quite a shame how things have been handled by the management!

Not sure I agree with the "visible" bit, arshoo, because I read somewhere also that BenQ get the right to use the Siemens name for 5 years. So the Siemens brand takes the hit on reputation if BenQ screw up anyway.

I agree though that its been poorly handled in general ... the way the story has come out in the press, it surprises me anyone would buy the business.

@mailbags - no i meant in general for like mobile networks or for that matter fixed networks, the siemens mobile was the only really visible part and the way that siemens has handled that is a shame as it really is washing your dirty laundry in public. dont think this much hue and cry would have been there if for example our router division was sold as most general public wont care about that
for the other part about BenQ having the rights u r correct if they screw up its on siemens

i am not so sure anymore if it hasnt been handled quite right after all. having just attended the final employee meeting where they communicated the purchase...I must say, this might just be a really good solution and to not just jump into something just because you get pressured by the press does take some confidence.

When you're part of press speculation as employee of the involved company you realize for the first time how much absolute Bullshit is being written. I had the chance to witness that over the last half year.

"may you live in exciting times.."

well said, CodeRed. It has been frustrating, especially putting up with all the different rumours internally on top of the press speculation. But they held on and made one big, decisive move. Good on them.

It may be tough, but I think it's better than becoming "Devices GmbH" for a year and then going down this road anyway. At least the employees know what choices they have now.

Some of my colleagues are freaking out (people are openly asking colleagues to take their photo for their CV), but that is just ridiculous. There is no need to panic, especially as we've been warned since january. And it could be a really positive move if you are flexible, do a good job and don't feel that Siemens owes you a "job for life".

yahoo latest

Any idea how much change there will be to current Siemens development plans?

I read in one article that Siemens were planning to introduce 15 new handset models into the market this year and that it is now uncertain whether these plans will go ahead. If that is the case, then there are probably a few other TTers working at Siemens' main supplier Infineon who might have something to worry about.

I don't know any details about the Mobile Phone business, as I don't work there. But it is in the press that Infineon is extremely worried, not just about this year's phones but for the future, as BenQ has its own suppliers. Infineon has not been mentioned here today, to my knowledge.

I think we need to wait and see how the details pan out, I don't think management knows yet either. For example, the head of the Betriebsrat told me 3 weeks ago that he planned to negotiate the future stability of our employee contracts this week at Siemens HQ, and I guess he wasn't lying...

@JB There is now not less need to take your CV picture than anytime before. Maybe even less now.

The phones will be released as planned. Thank god also the next gen which has some really cool ones amongst it.

...and the Siemens Betriebsrat guy is an incompetent dick. My view.

yep, he's a bit young to be taken serioulsy in this particular environment! But at least he tries

I'm not taking any photos, my plans are sorted.

I think people have to just make up their minds whether they "belong" to Siemens, or whether they want to make the most of the possibilities with a new company. BenQ has an excellent reputation for fast reaction to consumer needs, and it is a strong, international, growing company. IMHO it's more interesting than the old Siemens giant right now, and no less safe.

I think this sale to Benq is a blessing in disguise - otherwise Siemens AG will have to close down the mobile phone division. It is a shame that only the bloody bludger in Germany is covered by the sales agreement to Benq.

JM