After Sony exiting the PC market, Vaio became a stand-alone PC manufacturer and it recently released a Windows 10 Mobile smartphone too. Now, a new report from Bloomberg suggest that Vaio may be planning to merge with Toshiba and Fujitsu by end of March to create a gaint PC maker company that may be able to dominate Japan.
Vaio Corp., the personal computer maker spun off from Sony Corp. in 2014, is closing in on a three-way merger with rivals to create a producer that can dominate Japan and weather a shrinking global PC market.
Vaio expects to strike an agreement to combine with Toshiba Corp.’s and Fujitsu Ltd.’s PC divisions by the end of March, said Hidemi Moue, chief executive officer of Japan Industrial Partners Inc., the buyout fund that now controls the former arm of Sony. Vaio expects to own the biggest stake in the merged company, which can help the trio save on research and development and scale production, he said.
The move is said to be one of consolidation targeting Japan’s domestic market and it may also provide strength to Vaio to reach to more markets. PC market has however seen a decline for many years now and the trend may continue in 2016 too.
PC shipments shrank 10 percent last year, falling below 300 million units for the first time since 2008, according to researcher IDC. The market is expected to decline through 2016.
