Toshiba is planning to exit its Japanese mobile handset joint-venture with Fujitsu after less than a year, according to local press reports. Toshiba holds a 19.9 percent stake in Fujitsu Toshiba Mobile Communications Ltd and is thought to be selling its entire holding to Fujitsu, which owns the remaining 80.1 percent. The business is expected to become a wholly-owned Fujitsu subsidiary in the first half of next year. Fujitsu will then likely integrate the subsidiary with its existing mobile devices business. The JV has only been up and running since October last year. For Toshiba, the move was seen as an attempt to shore up losses in its former own-branded handset operations by letting Fujitsu effectively oversee its mobile business.

According to research firm IDC Japan, Fujitsu accounted for 21.5 percent of the Japanese mobile devices market in Q1 (including the joint venture business), behind market leader Sharp on 23 percent. Fujitsu Toshiba Mobile mainly builds 3G devices for Japan’s second-placed operator, KDDI.