Japan's NEC Corp and China's Lenovo Group Ltd are in the final stages of talks for a tie-up in the personal computer business, the Nikkei business daily said.

Lenovo may take a majority stake in NEC Personal Products Ltd, a wholly owned NEC unit, that makes and sells personal computers, the daily reported.

The companies aim to boost their competitiveness through economies of scale by combining development, production, materials procurement and hope to catch up with global giants like Hewlett-Packard Co, the paper said.

NEC controlled about 18 percent of the Japanese PC market in 2009 -- but globally stood 12th with a share of less than 1 percent. Lenovo had about 27 percent of its home market and was No. 4 in the world with a market share of about 8 percent, the Nikkei said.

NEC-branded PCs are expected to remain on the market, the paper reported.

(Reporting by Swetha Gopinath in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Japan China Lenovo