Fujitsu plans US subsidiary
By Paul Abrahams in Las Vegas
Published: November 12 2000 18:20GMT | Last Updated: November 13 2000 02:20GMT
Fujitsu, the Japanese electronics giant and the world's third largest computer group, will on Monday announce plans to create a new US-based company aimed at attacking the fast-growing market for servers and storage devices.
The move is part of a restructuring of Fujitsu's US operations and is emblematic of its global shift from traditional hardware manufacture to software and services, a transformation that is being orchestrated by Naoyuki Akikusa, Fujitsu's president.
The Japanese company's intention is to take on market leaders such as Sun Microsystems, Compaq and Hewlett-Packard in the US, by supplying open systems that are compatible with Sun's Solaris product-line.
These are used in data centres and in critical networks that require high levels of reliability and availability, such as those used by web-based companies.
The unit will also supply low-end Intel-based servers as well as storage systems.
Last month, Amdahl, Fujitsu's wholly owned US offshoot, said it was ceasing production of mainframe computers, even though the company had once been a market leader and had the advantage of 30 years of experience in the sector.
Amdahl will concentrate on software and services. It explained the move by saying demand for mainframes was likely to be replaced increasingly by servers.
At that time, Amdahl said there would be no immediate job losses from the decision to withdraw from the mainframe business. On Monday, Fujitsu will announce that a number of the subsidiary's employees will transfer to the newly formed group, which will be based at Sunnyvale, California.
Although Fujitsu is one of Japan's biggest computer groups, it is little known in the US. The company has launched a $200m global branding campaign to raise its international profile.
The new group, which will co-operate with Fujitsu-Siemens, its European joint venture, will use the Fujitsu name. There is no intention of raising capital by a partial flotation of the subsidiary. At one time, Fujitsu considered such a plan for Amdahl and ICL, its UK subsidiary.
Fujitsu has been developing its US strategy in recent months. In September, it announced a global software alliance with Microsoft. |
