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It's the end of the phone line for Siemens, even with BenQ ownership

BenQ's mobile phone business - the former Siemens division which BenQ took over less than a year ago for €250m - is facing imminent collapse.

A spokesman for BenQ Mobile GmbH says the company will file for bankruptcy in the next few days as BenQ's board has decided to discontinue funding the German unit.

At least 3,000 jobs in Munich and the production locations at Bocholt and Kamp-Lintfort are in danger. The design centre in Poznan, Poland, and a manufacturing site in Manaus, Brazil, will be affected too.

BenQ says it plans to continue its Asian-based handset operations and the Siemens BenQ brand, but all European operations will end.

Siemens' mobile operations were already in bad shape when the Taiwanese bought the company last year. Since then losses have reached €840m, partly because of handset delays and increased marketing costs.

BenQ is also in fierce competition with Nokia and Motorola. In July, BenQ planned to cut 10 per cent of its German workforce as part of restructuring, and slash the salaries of its executives.

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