Siemens SL65, A Forgotten gem?
Recently, Siemens announced that they had closed off a deal with the Taiwanese electronic manufacturer BenQ, which has resulted in a deal worth 350 million Euros. Now, normally this is not unheard of, but what makes the deal odd is the fact that Siemens are paying BenQ 350 million Euros to get rid of their failing mobile arm. That’s right, millions are being spent to get rid of the business, but why? Well the main thing that stands out is Siemens have been squandering away 1.5 million Euros a day just to keep their mobile arm afloat.
In return for the 350 million Euros, Siemens will emerge with a 2.5% stake in BenQ, reputed to be worth in the region of 50 million Euros. But the question I have to keep asking myself is why did Siemens fail so badly, and what makes BenQ think they can make it work? Were their products so bad that there is no way to save the business? Let’s take a look at one of the models that is currently on the market to see if it can reveal some answers.