The last factory in Europe to make desktop and laptop computers, a site in southern Germany owned by Japanese electronics firm Fujitsu, is set to close in 2020.

The closure of the Augsburg factory "will affect all 1,500 workers at the site," a Fujitsu spokesman said on Friday.

About 300 jobs in related German firms are under threat.

It will see the complete departure from Germany of Fujitsu's production and assembly operations. Product development, final assembly and logistics will all move to Japan.

Negotiations have already begun between managers and workers' representatives about the future prospects for those who are laid off.

Fujitsu said that the facility, which made notebooks and storage systems, is the last such factory in Europe.

Consolidation in the industry has meant that there are not many such production sites left. Three US firms - Apple, Dell and HP - are still in the market, but otherwise the sector is dominated by East Asia: Acer and Asus in Taiwan; Lenovo in China; Samsung and LG in South Korea.

The classical PC with keyboard has itself become a dying breed with plummeting sales as consumers turn to tablets and other mobile devices for their computing needs.