Japanese tech giants Fujitsu, Toshiba and Vaio are reportedly mulling the idea of merging their PC businesses, and will begin holding “specific discussions” on the idea later this month. If all goes well, the new company will launch on April 1 in time for the start of Japan’s new financial year, Nikkei reports.

The plan is expected to see Vaio subsume the other two companies’ PC businesses, with each company holding a roughly one-third stake of the new firm.

The proposed merger comes when PC makers are having an especially tough time of things. The global demand for PCs is falling rapidly, with shipments expected to decrease by 4.5 percent to just 300 million units this year, according to Gartner Inc.

Many PC makers had hoped the release of Windows 10 earlier this year might finally kick start sales, but in fact the opposite appears to have happened, with many people simply choosing to upgrade their old machines instead of buying new.

“The release of Windows 10 on 29th July will contribute to a slowing professional demand for mobile PCs and premium ultramobiles in 2015, as lifetimes extend by three months,” said Gartner’ analyst Ranjit Atwal earlier this year.

Things are so bad that Fujitsu already said in late October it’s planning to split off its PC business in early 2016. The company is expecting to ship just 4.2 million PCs this year, down from 4.7 million units one year ago. With Toshiba and Vaio also said to be struggling, a merger makes sense because the firms can reduce indirect costs and strengthen their position when negotiating with suppliers and partners.

The PC market is currently led by China’s Lenovo Group Ltd., followed by Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Inc., Acer Inc., and Apple. The more consumer-focused Fujitsu, Toshiba and Vaio haven’t been helped by weakness in their key market of Japan, and as a result they hold a combined share of around 6 percent of the PC market, behind Apple.

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