Fujitsu to Spin Off Photonics

Fujitsu Ltd. said it will spin off, through a simple absorption-type separation, its photonics manufacturing and photonics product development divisions for the Japanese market and transfer the divisions to its wholly owned subsidiary, Fujitsu Access Ltd., as of July 1.

Also this week, the Fujitsu Group announced it will make a combined corporate donation, including its subsidiaries in China, of 20 million yen (about $200,458) to support earthquake relief and recovery efforts in Sichuan Province, China, and that its employees are collecting additional funds to support victims. (See also: Fabs Assess Quake Damage)

Meanwhile, Fujitsu Laboratories announced it has developed an image-sensing technology that can track the motion paths of individuals shown in images from multiple cameras.

As a result of the spinoff, Fujitsu Access will be renamed Fujitsu Telecom Networks Ltd., the company said in a statement. Fujitsu Ltd. is the transferor company and Fujitsu Access Ltd. will be the successor.

Fujitsu said there will be "no decrease in capital, etc.," resulting from the spinoff. Fujitsu Ltd. has issued share purchase warrants and bonds with share purchase warrants, but these warrants will not be affected by the transfer, the company said.

"On the date of the spinoff, Fujitsu Ltd. will transfer to the successor company all assets, liabilities and accompanying rights and obligations of its photonics manufacturing division and photonics product development division for the Japanese market. The employment contracts of the employees in the transferred divisions will not be subject to the transfer," the company said.

"Capitalizing on the technology and know-how it has accumulated over many years, Fujitsu has developed a globally competitive photonics business. In recent years, however, product develop cycles have become shorter as a result of growing demand for higher-speed, higher-capacity, multifunctional solutions, and the market environment is becoming increasingly challenging," it said.

Particularly with regard to the Japanese market, it added, customers are demanding more diverse and sophisticated products, and competition is intensifying in regard to carriers' deployment plans for next-generation networks.

Until now, the Fujitsu Group has developed these businesses by dividing responsibility, with Fujitsu Ltd. responsible for backbone networks and Fujitsu Access responsible for access networks, the company said. "As the market has evolved, however, the boundary between backbone and access networks has become increasingly blurred."

Fujitsu announced in April its plan to merge its photonics manufacturing division and Japan photonics product development division with the photonics business of Fujitsu Access. (See also: Fujitsu's Photonics to Merge)

Fujitsu Laboratories said its new image-sensing technologycan track -- without blind spots -- the motion paths of multiple individuals as they move, indoors. Using ceiling-mounted multiple compact surveillance cameras to monitor designated areas, and enabling automatic and accurate extraction of the motion paths of individuals shown in images from those cameras, the technology has potential for applications including surveillance, retail consumer purchasing behavior and analysis of work efficiency.

Overview of Fujitsu Laboratories' new image-sensing technology

The technology will be exhibited at Fujitsu Forum 2008, which will be held May 15 and 16 at Tokyo International Forum.

For more information, visit: www.fujitsu.com