A Munich court has opened insolvency proceedings against BenQ Mobile after the mobile phone maker failed to meet an end-of-the-year deadline to find a buyer.“The insolvency proceedings were officially opened Jan. 1,” said a spokesman for Martin Prager, the insolvency administrator. “Production will now wind down.”Nearly 1,000 remaining staff had hoped an unnamed new investor would take over the company and save their jobs. But no investor filed a bid by the Dec. 31 deadline, according to the spokesman.The insolvency proceedings, however, have created a new—and possibly more enticing—situation for investors. Prior to the Dec. 31 deadline, potential investors were obligated to take over the entire company and its workforce, the spokesman said. As of Jan. 1, they can purchase a part of the company and are not required by law to take over any former employees.Prager plans to hold a news conference on Wednesday to discuss negotiations with investors over the past few weeks and his planned steps moving forward. BenQ Mobile has a main German plant in Munich and smaller factories at Bocholt and Kamp-Lintfort. The sites, which formerly belonged to Siemens, have already laid off about 2,000 people. Siemens agreed to sell the plants to Taiwan’s BenQ in June 2005, due to disappointing world sales of its mobile phones and high product costs. But in August 2006, the new owner announced plans to cease investment in the German sites last year after concluding they were uneconomic. The move triggered a public outcry in Germany.In December, BenQ decided to close a mobile phone R&D center in Beijing as the company continues to slim its mobile phone operations. It has shifted work from the Beijing center to R&D labs in Suzhou, China and Taiwan.-John Blau, IDG News Service (Dusseldorf Bureau)Related Links: BenQ to Shutter Beijing Handset R&D Center Wanted: Buyer for Siemens Enterprise Networks GroupCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by SAP When natural disasters strike Japan, Ōita University’s EDiSON is ready to act With the technology and assistance of SAP and Zynas Corporation, Ōita University built an emergency-response collaboration tool named EDiSON that helps the Japanese island of Kyushu detect and mitigate natural disasters. By Michael Kure, SAP Contributor Dec 07, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by BMC BMC on BMC: How the company enables IT observability with BMC Helix and AIOps The goals: transform an ocean of data and ultimately provide a stellar user experience and maximum value. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 3 mins IT Leadership brandpost Sponsored by BMC The data deluge: The need for IT Operations observability and strategies for achieving it BMC Helix brings thousands of data points together to create a holistic view of the health of a service. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 4 mins IT Leadership how-to How to create an effective business continuity plan A business continuity plan outlines procedures and instructions an organization must follow in the face of disaster, whether fire, flood, or cyberattack. Here’s how to create a plan that gives your business the best chance of surviving such an By Mary K. Pratt, Ed Tittel, Kim Lindros Dec 07, 2023 11 mins Small and Medium Business IT Skills Backup and Recovery Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe