Panasonic has announced a reorganisation of its mobile equipment business, separating its base station and handset activities. The Panasonic Mobile Communications division will be carved up, with the base station activities joining a new subsidiary including the units Panasonic System Solutions Japan and Panasonic System Networks. The company said this will bring production and sales activities closer together, supporting growth in the networks business. The mobile phone business will be set up as a new subsidiary, controlled directly by the parent company. Panasonic expects to complete the merger of the networks activities in December and have the mobile phone business set up by next March. The restructuring was announced alongside fiscal Q2 results that included a major writedown on assets in the mobile phone business. Panasonic said the charges were needed due to an erosion of market share in Japan as well as a shift in its international strategy for the handset business. Reuters reported earlier citing sources familiar with the matter that the company has abandoned an earlier plan to re-enter the European mobile market, after disappointing sales.
