Biz Brief: Toshiba and Fujitsu Weigh Mobile-Phone Merger

Toshiba (TOSBF) and Fujitsu (FJTSY) are reportedly discussing merging their mobile-phone businesses, a move that would mark yet another cell-phone merger in Japan as the industry there suffers declining sales, according to a Reuters report.

The two companies are considering forming a joint venture that would create Japan's second-largest cell-phone maker and have Fujitsu holding the majority stake, the report noted.

That merger would compete with a three-way joint venture involving NEC (NIPNF), Hitachi (HIT) and Casio Computer (CSIOY), which is scheduled to begin operations this month. Over the past three years, the number of cell-phone makers has dropped to six groups, from 10, as handset sales in Japan plummeted nearly 40% in the past two years.