NEC appears ready to hang up on its smartphone business after its PC partner Lenovo declined the chance to invest, according to Japan’s Nikkei news source. The report says that NEC will retain its traditional handset business.
Japan’s NEC has a successful partnership with Lenovo in the personal computer arena, and NEC tried to convince the Chinese company to take a stake in its NEC Casio Mobile Communications Ltd. Lenovo, of course, has its own smartphone business, and reportedly passed on the opportunity to combine it with NEC’s unit.
Although NEC has struggled to gain market share in the competitive smartphone space, the company has launched some innovative products, including the first water-cooled smartphone and an Android phone that can be immersed in water for 30 minutes.
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