BenQ to Dismantle, Sell Mobile Division

Taiwan based BenQ acknowledged over the weekend that its mobile handset division had no chance of being sold as a whole and thus would be liquidated after filing for bankruptcy last September. BenQ had acquired the struggling business from Siemens in June 2005, but failed to turn it around.

German paper Sueddeutsche Zeitung first reported the decision, noting that some 3,000 jobs would likely be lost - although employees will receive wages for up to a year thereafter. Siemens was barely able to keep the phone unit afloat when it sold it to BenQ in exchange for a 2.5 percent stake in the Taiwanese electronics maker. At the time, BenQ expected the acquisition to give it more exposure and double annual handset sales.