BenQ to shut down

Taiwan’s BenQ Mobile will shut down after a battle to keep the struggling unit afloat failed to attract any investors, according to a spokesperson Wednesday.

BenQ Mobile filed for insolvency in September 2006 when the Taiwanese manufacturer said it was pulling out after suffering “unsustainable losses.” The Taiwanese-German joint venture was established just over a year ago when the German firm effectively paid BenQ Euro 50m to take the ailing division off its hands.

BenQ first hit trouble under Siemens but later collapsed under its new Taiwanese ownership, having failed to compete globally with the likes Nokia and Sony Ericsson.

By December 31, no investors had expressed an interest in saving the mobile unit. The administrator, Martin Prager, will order the shutdown of BenQ Mobile’s office in Munich and its production plant in western Germany, a spokesperson said.