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BenQ closes their mobile phone division in Munich

...that which was formerly Siemens Mobile

Toytown Germany > Discussion forum > South Germany > Munich > Munich news
MadAxeMurderer
The TV was on at lunchtime, but I could not hear what was being said. However it appeared to be that BenQ is shutting down its mobile division here (which was Siemens mobile)
Just G
That is what is sounds like.
MunichNewbie
That was the agreement.
MadAxeMurderer
Bugger. Why did they buy it so they could close it down less than two years later, or is the whole BenQ group going down the tubes?

What's this going to do the already slack job market for mobile phone experts in Munich?
Just G
Can't say I am suprised. Glad I left there two years ago! I do hope that they will be able to find new jobs soon.

G.
MonksTown
Yeah. It's just the German phone section of BenQ. It was all planned, it is no surprise really. Shitty for the workers losing their jobs though. mad.gif
acockreland2balls
Just reading about it at Spiegel.de (in German)
Editor Bob
And in English: BenQ mobile phone business faces closure in Germany

QUOTE
BenQ plans to continue production of its BenQ-Siemens brand mobile phones in Asia threatening the jobs of 1,400 working in the group's head office in Munich and factories in Bocholt and Kamp-Lintfort.
Adi
I used to work for the company that owned BenQ. I don't think core BenQ activities are a problem but it bit off a lot more than it could chew with Siemens. You can bet that the guys sitting in the office in Taipei are losing just as much sleep, if not more, as the people here in Germany. They're regretting the day they tried to expand too fast now.
MunichNewbie
The reason BenQ "bought" Siemens mobile was to penetrate the Euro and Middle East markets with a better branding. Bought isnt actually the right word as Siemens actually paid BenQ to take it.

The agreement was that after 2 years, they will maintain the manufacturing facilities but will probably close the other offices.
Malcolm Spudbury
Same story at Forbes: Taiwan's Benq says to discontinue investing in German mobile phone unit
Mailbags
... but its only been 1 year. The takeover came into effect 1 Oct 2005. My mail is that the BenQ employees here in Munich were not expecting this.
MonksTown
All you had to do was read between the lines in the SZ over the last few weeks.
Marty
A comment on this at Spiegel:

http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,439815,00.html
Malcolm Spudbury
QUOTE (Mailbags @ Sep 28 2006, 4:37 pm) *
the BenQ employees here in Munich were not expecting this.

They should have been. It wasn't really difficult to see it coming.

The same thing happened with the Sony R&D site in Munich. After the JV with Ericsson they only kept the Munich site going for about a year before the Sony Ericsson management decided to shut it down.

The BenQ employees can probably take some comfort in the fact that the German employment laws will see that they get a nice redundancy payoff, assuming their Betreibsrat is any good. All those dead-wood Siemens middle managers who would have been given the boot years ago in a UK or US company will probably make a tidy sum out of it.
Just G
Having worked there myself I can only second Malcolm's opnion.
FuzzyTony
But it looks like Siemens is not going to give up without a fight:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,440409,00.html
Malcolm Spudbury
TheRegister: Germans begin probe into BenQ Mobile collapse.

QUOTE
German public prosecutors are looking into the bankruptcy of German mobile phone manufacturer BenQ Mobile. [...]Insiders say BenQ Mobile's management was fully aware of the company's cashflow problems as early as August, but didn't communicate them to its employees and deliberately delayed filing for bankruptcy. According to some reports, the company also made false statements about the number of BenQ handsets sold in Q2.
Darkknight
QUOTE
Taiwanese hardware manufacturer BenQ bought German-based Siemens’mobile arm for $97.5 million and created BenQ Mobile less than two years ago. BenQ Mobile filed for insolvency in September 2006, when BenQ said it was pulling out after suffering "unsustainable losses." Liquidation looks inevitable and 3000 jobs are at risk; investors are not willing to buy the struggling company. Under German law, a company has three months' grace after filing for bankruptcy before formal insolvency proceedings begin. BenQ is expected to release new information about BenQ Mobile's future on Wednesday.

News source: c|net's News.com
Elfenstar
i just had an interesting discussion with some collegues about this. they were speculating that siemens transferred their "early retirees" to BenQ as part of an early retirement package, knowing that BenQ would go bankrupt. my collegues said that would have saved siemens on retirement payments. sounds harsh, but feasible. oh man, my collegues are old!
pootle
As I went past the office the BenQ office this morning, there was a TV news crew getting ready to do a live feed somewhere...
sarabyrd
Today the insolvency procedure (German link) was officially initiated. Martin Prager, a lawyer specializing in salvaging insolvent companies, was not able to find investors able and willing to take over the company as a whole. Prager criticized the Siemens managers harshly, laying the blame for the hopeless situation on their shoulders and claiming that BenQ had underestimated the difficulties which they faced and ultimately ruined the company.
If, however, a financially potent investor were to take over the company even at this stage parts of it possibly can be saved. The longer production is interrupted the harder it will be to regain the former market position. So I suppose the TV-crew was there to tape the press conference regarding the insolvency.
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