Japanese electronics company Fujitsu is planning to launch smartphones and tablets in Europe, growing its business outside of its home market, the Financial Times reports.

Apparently, the company will announce products at the GSMA Mobile World Congress next week. It is readying devices based on Android and Windows Phone, with LTE connectivity and NFC likely to feature.

Fujitsu has long been a top-tier handset maker in Japan alongside domestic peers such as Sharp, but has recently faced increased competition from international vendors such as Apple, HTC and Samsung.

It also has a long heritage in the smartphone market, having offered a large number of devices powered by Symbian OS (including the first 3G handset powered by this platform), before moving to newer platforms such as Android and Windows Phone.

However, like domestic rivals including Sharp and NEC Casio, Fujitsu has not had a significant presence on the international stage.

Its move into European markets follows a similar move announced by domestic rival Panasonic late in 2011. Sharp is working with Orange for an Android-powered smartphone.