BenQ, a leading Taiwanese technology group, is to become a joint venture partner in the loss-making mobile handsets arm of Siemens, according to people close to the German engineering and technology giant.

The supervisory board of Siemens will hold a telephone conference on Monday to approve the deal with an announcement possible as early as Tuesday. The announcement will end months of uncertainty over the the future of Siemens' handset division which has been damaging to sales. For BenQ, Taiwan's largest maker of mobile phones, it will provide a springboard into the European market where its sales to date have been limited.