Fujitsu Buys Out Toshiba's Share In Mobile Partnership

Toshiba hasn't exactly set the world on fire with its smartphones in the past. They briefly had the tech world abuzz in 2009 with its TG01 handset, which featured a then impressive 1Ghz single-core processor and 4-inch 800x480 resistive touchscreen running Windows Mobile 6.1. Since then, things have been quiet. Fujitsu announced yesterday that it will buy out Toshiba's stake in their joint venture, Fujitsu Toshiba Mobile Communications Limited.

Fujitsu already had the majority share of the partnership, 80.1%, and has converted the company into a wholly owned subsidiary as a result of the buyout. Now that Fujitsu has purchased the other 19.9%, the company has been renamed to Fujitsu Mobile Communications Limited.

The now defunct joint venture used to deliver smartphones to Japanese carriers like KDDI. Fujitsu already had a controlling interest in the company, so the buyout means everything should still be business as usual, with no major changes in strategy.

In the past, Fujitsu has built smartphones running a variety of operating systems, including Android and Windows Phone. The company most recently demoed a quad-core prototype phone at MWC 2012. Fujitsu has stated in the past that it plans to try and enter the US smartphone market, but so far news of any plans has been scarce.