Lenovo in talks on smartphone joint venture

The PC maker is branching further into mobile devices, with a joint venture with an unnamed, unknown smartphone maker currently in negotiation stages.

Lenovo, the PC maker that continues to defy market share figures despite an ever slumping market, said on Tuesday that it is in early talks with an unnamed partner to participate in a smartphones joint venture.

According to the Reuters news agency, Japanese media first reported that the company is in talks with NEC to focus on manufacturing and distributing smartphones.

NEC declined to comment on the joint venture rumors, but did reportedly note that it is still experiencing financial troubles. A company spokesperson told the publication that it is "considering various opportunities," but did not elaborate.

NEC was reportedly mulling selling its mobile phone unit to Lenovo back in March. NEC confirmed that the talks were going on, but that they ultimately collapsed with "nothing [being] decided."

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