The Nikkei business news service in Japan is reporting this afternoon that Toshiba is wrapping up talks to acquire the hard drive manufacturing division of Fujitsu, for what so far is an undisclosed sum.

It's no secret to anyone that Fujitsu wants to sell its hard drive operations; it made that much clear last October in its overtures to Western Digital, also carried out with the aid of Nikkei as its bullhorn. The crown jewel of Fujitsu's business there could be its 2.5-inch form factors for media players and small devices like netbooks. But a year ago, Fujitsu decided not to go forward with plans to manufacture even smaller form factors, which would help it break through to the MP3 player market.

WD might have used a lift in that department too, but as reviewers in recent years have learned, Fujitsus are not the leaders in the performance department. Toshiba, frankly, doesn't really a small-form-factor manufacturing arm -- it's already a big leader in that field. Acquiring Fujitsu's operations may just be a move to eliminate one competitor.