News From Fujitsu - 3/3/2009

* Fujitsu to acquire Kaz Group Pty Ltd from Telstra Corporation Limited
* Spansion Files for Bankruptcy Protection in the U.S. (Update2)

IR Corner: Fujitsu Ltd. (# 6702, Tokyo Stock Exchange)
March 2, 2009 closing price: ¥ 320, - ¥ 17 (- 5.04%)
http://www.fujitsu.com/about/ir/

1 - News Room: Announcements & Press Releases

- Fujitsu to acquire Kaz Group Pty Ltd from Telstra Corporation Limited

Sydney, 02 March, 2009 — Fujitsu, a leading provider of business, information technology and communications solutions, has entered into an agreement to acquire 100 percent of shares in KAZ Group Pty Ltd from Telstra Corporation Limited for A$200 million, subject to regulatory approval. This investment confirms Fujitsu’s commitment to invest in and grow its Australian business as well as boost Fujitsu’s position in the Australian market. This acquisition will make Fujitsu the third largest IT company, by revenue, with a team of nearly 5,000 across the country. The strength of KAZ’s existing business and the synergies it brings to Fujitsu will deliver new and exciting commercial opportunities.
> http://www.fujitsu.com/au/news/pr/archives/2009/20090302-01.html


2 - Fujitsu In the News: News about Fujitsu in the Media

- Fujitsu-Siemens lauds hypervisor agnosticism

By: Martin Banks, Bloor Research: 27th February 2009 -- The formal launch of Fujitsu-Siemens' FlexFrame environment for SAP may seem to make a strange bedfellow for VMware's VMWorld conference and exhibition in Cannes this week. But it transpires it is an appropriate launch location, as one of the important sub-texts of the system is the way it identifies the need for an agnostic platform running all the leading virtualization hypervisors. The FlexFrame approach is built around creating a pre-engineered environment for a major application suite. The company already has a FlexFrame capable of running Oracle-based applications, and others will follow this introduction of the SAP implementation. It provides an operating environment for both the core application and the users' specific applications and implementations. This includes the hypervisor needed to run on a virtualized environment, and it is here that the agnosticism is being required.
> http://www.it-analysis.com/business/costs/content.php?cid=11103

- Fujitsu-affiliated electronics device maker to eliminate 4,800 jobs

[February 27, 2009] -- (Kyodo News International (Tokyo) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Feb. 27--TOKYO -- FDK Corp., an electronics device maker affiliated with Fujitsu Ltd., said Friday it will eliminate 4,800 jobs at home and overseas, or roughly 40 percent of its 11,300-person workforce. As for the domestic segment of the workforce, FDK said, it will eliminate 510 jobs through such means as soliciting employees' applications to quit on a voluntary basis before they reach mandatory retirement age.
> http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/02/27/4019583.htm

- Kablenet: (N. Ireland) Causeway costs to rise by a third

27 February - Northern Ireland's criminal justice IT programme will now cost 36% more than the original estimate, according to a government minister. Minister of state for Northern Ireland Paul Goggins said the most recent estimate on the programme's price tag is £58m, against an initial figure of £42.7m. He attributed this to three main factors. The first is that the complexity of integrating the six agencies' business processes and computer systems cost £5m more than expected. Secondly, changes in the contract added £6m to the bill. Thirdly, an extra £4m accrued from development and office costs arising from a delay in the programme. Goggins said, however, that at one stage Causeway was estimated to cost £61m. The reduction resulted from a review of the programme's content. Causeway, which was launched in 2003, is providing a joined up IT platform to support the sharing of information between Northern Ireland’s criminal justice agencies. It is being delivered under a 10 year contract with Fujitsu Services.
> http://www.kablenet.com/kd.nsf/FrontpageRSS/2D4D5AF859106DC58025756A003F45CD!OpenDocument

- Fujitsu To Buy Australia's 7th-Largest IT Firm

March 02, 2009 - TOKYO (Nikkei)-- Fujitsu Ltd. (6702) said Monday that it will purchase all shares in Kaz, Australia's seventh-largest IT services provider, a move that will make Fujitsu that country's No. 3 IT player in terms of sales. Local affiliate Fujitsu Australia Ltd. Co. will by April 1 purchase the shares from Telstra Corp., Kaz's parent firm, for 200 million Australian dollars, or about 12.3 billion yen. (* Subscription Required *)
> http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Search/Nni20090302D02SS164.htm

- Spansion Files for Bankruptcy Protection in the U.S. (Update2)

By Jeran Wittenstein and Dawn McCarty - March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Spansion Inc., the U.S. maker of memory chips for mobile phones, filed for bankruptcy protection to restructure its debt after failing to make an interest payment on $266 million of bonds. The company listed debt of $2.4 billion and assets of $3.8 billion as of the end of the third quarter of 2008 in Chapter 11 documents filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.
> http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=afNapYfjP.t0&refer=us

- Telstra sells its IT unit to Fujitsu for $256 million

Mar 03, 2009- Compute -- Telstra, Australia's biggest telecommunications company, will sell its information technology services unit, KAZ Group, to Fujitsu for A$200 million ($256 million). The purchase of KAZ will make Tokyo-based Fujitsu the third biggest IT company in Australia, employing nearly 5000 people, the companies said in a statement yesterday. Telstra's enterprise and government unit managing director, David Thodey, said the Melbourne-based company was selling KAZ because IT services were no longer a core part of its strategy.
> http://www.nzherald.co.nz/compute/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501832&objectid=10559603

- Fujitsu finally buys Telstra's KAZ

Renai LeMay, ZDNet.com.au - 02 March 2009 -- Japanese technology giant Fujitsu has finally acquired Telstra's KAZ IT services division after what is believed to be several years of on- and off-again negotiations. Announcing the $200 million deal this morning in a statement, Telstra's enterprise and government chief David Thodey, who oversees Kaz, said Telstra no longer saw ownership of an IT services business as a core part of its strategy. Telstra would work with Fujitsu and customers to ensure a "smooth transition", he said.
> http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Fujitsu-finally-buys-Telstra-s-KAZ/0,130061791,339295199,00.htm

- With Fujitsu Codec, TV2GO Broadcasts World Junior Hockey Championships

February 27, 2009 By Jayashree Adkoli, TMCnet -- Fujitsu Computer Products of America, a provider of computer products and broadcast solutions, reportedly said that it IP-9500e MPEG-4 AVC codec was used by TV2GO, a Canada-based provider of HD satellite transmission, to broadcast the World Junior Hockey Championships held in Ottawa. With the Fujitsu (News - Alert) IP-9500e, TV2GO cost-effectively transmitted and uplinked high-definition signals of the match to Sweden and other countries in Europe, by providing multiple broadcast stations with a low-latency MPEG-4 feed.
> http://outbound-call-center.tmcnet.com/topics/outbound-call-center/articles/51393-with-fujitsu-codec-tv2go-broadcasts-world-junior-hockey.htm

- Telstra offloads Kaz for $200 million to Fujitsu

02 March 2009 -- Telstra takes a hit of $130 million with its announcement that it is offloading its IT services arm, Kaz, to Fujitsu for $200 million. The announcement comes after nearly five years of Telstra trying to justify its decision to purchase what was then the biggest local IT services player. UPDATE - Telstra sent iTWire a message reminding us that today’s announcement follows the sale in August 2006 of KAZ’s superannuation business Australian Administration Services for $215 million.
> http://www.itwire.com/content/view/23535/127/

- Fujitsu ramps Oz services business with Kaz takeover

02-March-2009 By Kevin White -- Japanese company picks up Telestra divestment- Australia’s largest IT service company Kaz Group Pty Ltd is to be taken over by Fujitsu in a $125 million (AU$ 200 million) buyout from Telstra Corporation Limited. “The acquisition is in line with Fujitsu’s long-term objectives to grow its Australian business,” Richard Christou of Fujitsu said of the deal, which not only will extend the regional footprint of the Japanese-owned company but will also bring with it IT services contracts with Australian state Federal Government.
> http://www.cbronline.com/news/fujistu_ramps_oz_services_business_with_kaz_takeover_020309

- Fujitsu shows near-silent Energy Star 4 server

March 2, 2009 by Martyn Williams -- Primergy TX120 S2 uses 25 percent less power - Fujitsu Siemens has developed a compact, quiet and energy-efficient entry-level server and will launch it on April 1, it said on Sunday at the Cebit trade fair in Hanover, Germany. The Primergy TX120 S2 is based on Intel Core 2 Duo processors and achieves a 25 percent reduction in energy consumption over its predecessor. As a result it conforms to the Energy Star 4.0 specification. The machine isn't much larger than a desktop computer and is quiet enough that it can be placed in an office without its fans causing an annoying disturbance to workers, said Lothar Lechtenberg, a company spokesman who was demonstrating it at Cebit.
> http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=111587

- Fujitsu Services pilots road risk programme

2009-03-01 -- Fujitsu Services is piloting a two-month long occupational road risk programme for more than 1,000 of its company car drivers. For the first time, all business-need company car users who drive a minimum of 8,000 business miles a year have been asked to complete an online driver risk training and assessment programme. Those in their second year in the firm's graduate scheme and a representative portion of its head office drivers have also been asked to take part. The scheme is designed to equip company car drivers with the knowledge and skills to avoid road accidents.
> http://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/item/8521/23/5/3

- Flexible IT and green highlights: Fujitsu Siemens Computers showcases Dynamic Infrastructures at CeBIT 2009

WEBWIRE – March 02, 2009 -- First 0-Watt PC, environmentally conscious server and sophisticated service packages will be on view in the Public Sector Parc in Hall 9 and at Green IT World in Hall 8 - Fujitsu Siemens Computers presents its “Dynamic Infrastructures” products for Webciety, public sector clients and Green IT at CeBIT in the Public Sector Parc in Hall 9 and at Green IT World in Hall 8. The product innovations that will be on display include the first zero-watt PC, which consumes absolutely no power in off mode or hibernating, a PRIMERGY server for small businesses that has optimized energy savings, as well as service packages covering all aspects of IT infrastructure. During the weekend of CeBIT on March 7 and 8, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, together with its partners, will present “Citizens meet Civil Authorities” in the Public Sector Parc in Hall 9 and demonstrate just how fast, simple and cost-efficient direct communication between citizens and civil authorities can be.
> http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=88678

- Fujitsu shows world's first zero-watt PC
(Video: Esprimo 7935 uses no power overnight)

March 2, 2009 by Martyn Williams -- Fujitsu Siemens plans to launch in the middle of this year an enterprise desktop computer that consumes no energy when switched off, it said Sunday at the Cebit trade fair in Hanover, Germany. Computers, like most electronics, consume a very small amount of energy even when switched off because of losses in the transformer or sensors that remain active for functions such as remote power-on. For a PC the consumption when powered off is typically between 1 watt and 4 watts, said Fujitsu Siemens. Right now, the best that energy-conscious users can do is keep electronics on a power strip that they must remember to turn off.
> http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=111593

- Fujitsu Siemens Computers realigns Channel management

WEBWIRE – Monday, March 02, 2009 -- Hans-Dieter Wysuwa is new head of Corporate Channel Business for the EMEA region - Munich, Senior Vice President Hans-Dieter Wysuwa is to take over the management of all corporate channels for the EMEA region at Fujitsu Siemens Computers. In his previous role as Managing Director Germany Mr. Wysuwa was responsible for the region’s sales activities. Last November, Fujitsu Siemens Computers announced the realignment of its business and market strategy. As a complete provider for IT infrastructures – Dynamic Infrastructures – the company signaled its focus on building up a sustainable business with a long term outlook. In the course of the transformation, six regional sales organizations have been created, which simplify processes, strengthen customer intimacy and enable greater local focus.
> http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=88667

- Fujitsu to run India sales from Germany

Mar 2, 2009 - Hanover, Germany -- Computer manufacturer Fujitsu is to direct its future sales in India from its Munich, Germany offices, the company said Monday on the eve of the CeBIT trade fair. The shakeup follows the Japanese company's purchase from Siemens of Germany last November of the remaining 50 per cent of the Germany-based company Fujitsu Siemens Computers.
> http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1462323.php/Fujitsu_to_run_India_sales_from_Germany_


3 - Internet Speed: Customers, Competitors & Change

- Credit card biometrics: The future of data security

By Cindy Waxer -- Futuristic ID sensors march from the movies to the marketplace - If consumers get their way, credit cards with biometric security features will no longer be the stuff of spy movies, but a mainstream alternative to those that rely on sloppy signatures and forgotten passwords. Biometric technology -- the use of a person's unique physical features such as fingerprints, facial image and speech patterns to verify individual identities -- has been around for decades. But thanks to rampant credit card fraud and plummeting technology costs, crime-fighting tools such as fingerprint recognition, electronic-signature verification and voice recognition are making headway as safe and convenient ways for consumers to make credit card purchases.
> http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-biometric-technology-1273.php

- FDK to Cut 4,800 Jobs

By Agence France-Presse, Feb. 27, 2009 -- Will also suspend production at plant in Japan - FDK Corp., an affiliate of Japanese electronics firm Fujitsu Ltd., said on Feb. 27 it would cut 4,800 jobs or 40% of its workforce at home and abroad to cope with a steep business downturn. The electronic component and battery maker will suspend production at one of its three plants in Japan.
> http://www.industryweek.com/articles/fdk_to_cut_4800_jobs_18573.aspx?SectionID=1

- Laid-off Spansion employees outraged over execs' pay increases

By Steve Johnson - Mercury News: 02/26/2009 -- Earlier this week, as 3,000 employees of Spansion, the Sunnyvale semiconductor company, were being laid off, many of their bosses were getting pay increases. That juxtaposition — against the backdrop of the deteriorating economy and nationwide anger about greedy executives — has triggered outrage among the workers who have been let go. Scores of the laid-off workers jammed a West San Jose pizza parlor Thursday to join two class-action lawsuits against the firm and to vent their anger. "It's just callous," said 38-year-old Eric Rebaker of Boulder Creek, who lost his job as a Spansion plant maintenance specialist. "To hurt all these families — it makes me absolutely angry."
> http://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_11794903

- Marvell Unveils Plug Computing Platform

By Antone Gonsalves, InformationWeek, February 25, 2009 -- The tiny SheevaPlug computer provides always-on home network services, such as backup and file sharing, for a tenth of the power used by a regular desktop. Marvell has introduced a development platform for a tiny computer about the size of a power adapter that would plug into a wall socket and provide always-on home network services, such as data backup and file sharing. The idea behind SheevaPlug is to take services normally provided by a regular desktop and offload it to a miniature device that would use a tenth of the power. Marvell unveiled the concept at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.
> http://www.informationweek.com/news/infrastructure/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=214600031&cid=nl_tw_networking_T

- Windows 7 Gets Pre-Release Makeover

By Paul McDougall, InformationWeek, February 27, 2009 -- Microsoft has tweaked three dozen features in the beta version of its new operating system. In response to user feedback, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has made numerous changes to the Windows 7 user interface as it readies the operating system--viewed by many as a make or break product for the software maker-for formal launch later this year or early next year. Included in the changes, which number three dozen, is a new keyboard shortcut that allows the user to launch an application simply by pressing the Windows logo key in combination with a number that corresponds to the apps' order in the Quick Launch menu. For example, if an application is listed fourth in Quick Launch, it could be opened by pressing the Windows key in convert with the number 4 key.
> http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=215300020

- VIDEO: Microsoft's glimpse of the future

February 27, 2009 by Ina Fried - REDMOND, Wash. -- At Microsoft's TechFest, it takes a little imagination to see how the research technologies might eventually come to market. A new video from Microsoft shows in an elegant, if utopian way, what it might look like if all of those gadgets came together several years hence. Earlier on Friday, Microsoft Business Division President Stephen Elop showed the video in a speech at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.
> http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10173982-56.html?tag=nl.e433

- Silicon.com: CTOs to go the way of the steam train

26 February - Techies who want a lasting career should steer clear of becoming CTOs or risk being put out to pasture, a report into public sector tech has warned. As computer users become more tech-savvy and more IT services are delivered through web apps and software as a service the role of the CTO will become increasingly devalued, according to the report by public sector IT body Socitm. The report, which was published this week, said: "Just like the reduction in the status of train drivers since their advent in the Victorian age, we anticipate that organisations will place less value on their heads of ICT and CTOs as users become able to do more and more for themselves, and ICT becomes a commodity service delivered across the internet."
> http://www.silicon.com/publicsector/0,3800010403,39399787,00.htm

- FT.com: Satyam to invite formal offers

2 March - India's scandal-hit Satyam Computer Services is to invite formal bids from potential suitors this week, pushing ahead with a possible sale even though it could be months before its accounts are restated. The country's fourth-largest information technology outsourcing group, which has appointed Goldman Sachs and Avendus Capital as advisers, will invite expressions of interest as soon as regulatory approvals are completed. "While the accounts restatement in a formal sense and the audit is going to take a long time, the clarity with regard to the real situation [of the company's business] is fairly clear," Kiran Karnik, chairman of Satyam's government-nominated board, told the Financial Times.
> http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6a37efae-06ca-11de-ab0f-000077b07658.html

- Japan To Boost IT Spending By Y3tln Over 3 Yrs

March 02, 2009 - TOKYO (Nikkei)-- As part of efforts to deal with the economic crisis, the government is drawing up a three-year information technology strategy that calls for increasing total public- and private-sector investment by 3 trillion yen and creating 400,000 to 500,000 jobs, The Nikkei learned Sunday. This plan is designed to help realize a full economic recovery, which Prime Minister Taro Aso has said will take three years. A draft was submitted to the government's IT strategy panel and is expected to be made official in early April. (* Subscription Required *)
> http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Nni20090301D01JFF05.htm

- Schwarzenegger, 'green' gadgets open high-tech fair in Germany

BY DEBORAH COLE, AFP - BERLIN -- The world’s biggest high-tech fair kicks off today hosting guest-of-honor Arnold Schwarzenegger and offering cutting-edge solutions promising to beat the economic crisis as well as climate change. The California governor, whose state’s IT industry will be centerstage at Germany’s CeBIT, will join Chancellor Angela Merkel for speeches on the eve of the event and tour the fair with her when it opens early Tuesday. Some 4,300 firms from 69 countries will display the latest in information and communications technology in the northern city of Hanover — a quarter fewer than last year due to the global economic slump, organizers said.
> http://www.bworldonline.com/BW030309/content.php?id=093

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Fujitsu is a leading provider of IT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 160,000 employees supporting customers in 70 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 5.3 trillion yen (US$53 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008. For more information, please see: http://www.fujitsu.com/