Siemens, it should be noted, smells blood, and could soon supplant Ericsson as the third-largest supplier of mobile phones in the world. And while it seems Nokia can do no wrong, Ericsson's phone business is sputtering badly. It has been scrambling to right the listing ship. It transferred another 4,000 to Flextronics, and said it would sell plants in Brazil, Malaysia, Sweden and the U.K. to Flextronics. The two would share research and development resources on third-generation phones, reducing costs and allowing both to go after an improved market share.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.