Fujitsu to shutter sole remaining European production facility

Last site to be closed by 2020, as production business moves to Japan

Fujitsu is to close its last remaining production facility in Europe, affecting 1,800 employees as the PC maker moves its product business to Japan.

The vendor has announced that it plans to shutter its product development, manufacturing and logistics centre in Augsburg, in southern Germany, by September 2020 "at the latest".

The move will directly affect 1,500 employees, in addition to another 300 situated elsewhere in Germany. Fujitsu, which employs around 5,500 staff across the country, claims it is looking for "socially acceptable" solutions for all employees affected by the change.

Closing the Augsburg centre will mean Fujitsu will no longer manufacture its products in Europe, and will instead move its product business to Japan.

Fujitsu said the closure is part of a wider shift in the company from a "pure product business" to a service-oriented one, but stressed that it is still committed to selling product in Europe, and claims its sales, services and support functions on the continent will continue as normal. The vendor added that the full Fujitsu portfolio will continue to be available to customers.

Central Europe head of Fujitsu's EMEIA products and enterprise platform services, Rupert Lehner, said Fujitsu plans to bulk up its services capabilities in the wake of the facility's closure.

"We plan to expand our service capabilities in central Europe to include key sectors such as the public sector, SMEs, [and] the automotive and manufacturing industries. To support the digital transformation of our customers with industry-specific products, solutions and services, Fujitsu is further expanding its position as a system integrator. Our extensive portfolio ranges from consulting and conception to the implementation and operation of entire IT ecosystems," he said.

The closure of the Augsburg facility comes a year after Fujitsu sold off a 51 per cent stake in its PC business to Lenovo for around $157m (£122.5m). Meanwhile, in 2016, Fujitsu confirmed plans to reduce its DACH headcount by 490 staff by March 2019.