Siemens, which sold off its mobile handset business to BenQ is said to be exploring the sale of its communications business, aka Siemens Communications, according to a German news daily. Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reports on rumors of talks between Siemens and Motorola.
It was reported earlier that company might consider breaking up parts of its business and selling them off on piece meal basis. German publication Manager Magazin reported that there were talks between Siemens an Nokia.
All this is simple speculation, but one cannot deny that the telecom equipment industry is going through a serious realignment largely because of shrinking service provider base, and competition from low-cost suppliers from China.
The networks themselves are going through a change, creating new opportunities for some, and snatching away business from others. Lucent-Alcatel merger is only the beginning of an industry wide consolidation, many predict.
To what extent is this driven by VoIP, and to what extent by other, more general (and normal) market conditions? Is any of this likely to advance the deployment of 3G data service, or make it cheaper?
Thanks,
Jacob
This is very much driven by general market conditions. With a falling number of operator brands in the world (either through in-market consolidation a la AT&T/BellSouth or through cross-border consolidation a la Telefonica expanding its footprint in other European markets) it is harder and harder for network vendors to make a profit without achieving more scale.
I doubt that this will have a significant impact on the deployment or cost of 3G services. 3G adoption has to be consumer-led, and I am yet to be convinced that there is all of this pent-up-demand for advanced service x, y or z.
Equipment maker consolidation will never lead to new devices or lower prices. Those things are driven by competition between companies. So, these mergers are bad news for everyone but the shareholders of the merging companies (they are bad news for the employees, because they end up getting laid-off).