The first and second largest mobile manufacturers in Japan, NEC and Matsushita, are negotiating to collaborate further in the mobile phone sector to survive in the overcrowded Japanese market. The collaboration will focus on handset manufacturing and R&D and could include the joint procurement of components. The two groups already cooperate in 3G technology research. Partly due to a downturn in its mobile phone business, NEC made an operating loss of 25 billion yen last year and expects to lose another 15 billion yen this year. Matsushita’s mobile phone business also posted an 8.4 billion yen operating loss last year.
