Siemens splices PCs and comms

Siemens has fused its PC and communications businesses in a bid to mirror the increasing convergence of the two technologies and reorganised into three groups.

The Siemens Information and Communication Products Group was formed on 1 October, coinciding with the first day of the German 1998-99 fiscal year. It is the umbrella for the personal computer systems (PCS) division that was due to be sold off to Acer before negotiations broke down last month (PC Dealer, 16 September).

As part of the wide-ranging restructure, Siemens has ditched the Nixdorf part of its name, except in its retail and banking systems operations.

The group consists of five divisions including computer systems, communications devices, communications cables, banking terminals and IT services.

Amid speculation that the PCS division is still up for sale, Siemens said it will hold on to the unit but seek unspecified partnerships.

Speaking at the Augsburg plant last week, Robert Hoog, president of Siemens computer systems division, claimed volume output had increased in the last quarter. 'After Acer was unable to meet the agreement financially, we decided to continue manufacturing the PCs ourselves,' he said.

Siemens signs CA deal - see page 12.