Combined from outside sources; Adam Connors, DigiTimes.com [Thursday 21 March 2002]
Hot on the heels of Monday’s announcement of the Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric merger of their semiconductor businesses, Toshiba and Fujitsu are reportedly discussing their own merger, according to sources compiled by the March 20 late edition of Japan’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper.
The dual announcements come as Japan is trying to reinvigorate its once-dominant chip industry as it struggles to compete against US, Taiwan, South Korean and China players.
The announcement on March 18 by Hitachi, the eighth-largest chip maker, and Mitsubishi Electric, was to form the world’s third-largest system LSI (large-scale integration) chip business and semiconductor operation. This new cooperation by Toshiba and Fujitsu, if the deal goes through, would form the world’s second-largest firm with combined group annual sales as large as 1 trillion yen (US$7.5 billion), said Reuters.
Toshiba currently holds the world’s number two chip making position, behind Intel.
In related news, a spokesman for the Japan Electronic and Information Technology Industry Association (JEITA) has confirmed via Agence France Presse that five major Japanese semiconductor firms the four merger proponents above, plus NEC will jointly develop technology for next-generation chips with government help in a bid to regain their international competitiveness.
According to JEITA, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will purchase an existing foundry for 31.5 billion yen (US$240 million) for use by the joint companies and engineers, with other firms invited to join the co-op later.
Related stories:
Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric to merge chip businesses (Mar 19)
Low price attracts Japanese semiconductor orders to China (Feb 20)
