vnunet.com Asia news wrap: Thursday 10 November

Consumer electronics giant Philips today announced that it will merge its Mobile Display Systems business unit with Taiwanese display manufacturer Toppoly Optoelectronics Corporation.

The company said it would take a charge of approximately €70m in the fourth quarter related to the deal. The deal will be completed in the first half of next year, following regulatory approval.

Major shareholders in the new venture will be Taiwanese notebook and mobile device maker Compal Electronics with 25.1 per cent and Philips with 17.5 per cent.

Philips announced last December that its Mobile Display Systems unit had sold over one billion units, accounting for one in four mobile phones. Toppoly claims to be the world's second largest manufacturer of PDA screens.

Toppoly manufactures small to medium sized OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) displays and LTPS (Low Temperature Poly-Silicon) LCD displays.

These technologies are notable for attributes including brightness, low power consumption and very high resolutions, all of which make them particularly suitable for PDAs, mobile phones and other mobile devices.

Japanese electronics powerhouses Sony, Toshiba and NEC Electronics will work together on new chip manufacturing technology.

The companies hope to share the burden of ever-increasing development costs for advanced 45 nanometre chips. Toshiba and NEC announced yesterday evening that they will join forces on the project, having co-operated on the technology since last year.

Several other companies around the world, including Intel, IBM, AMD and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, are working towards manufacturing chips incorporating features 45 nanometres in size.

Co-operation between manufacturers is becoming increasingly common, because as the scale of the chips shrinks development difficulties increase and costs rise steeply.

For example, IBM is working with Chartered Semiconductor of Singapore and AMD. The new 45 nanometre technology, still two or three years from commercial use, will help make the chips smaller, faster, cheaper and less power-hungry. Companies are only just beginning to introduce 65 nanometre chips. 

See also:

New China chip plant impact unclear

NEC partner's $1.6bn plan 'has no clear start date'  04 Nov 2005

Semiconductor sales down

Attrition in the DRam market is being blamed for a dip in semiconductor revenues for May, according to the latest figures from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).  18 Jul 2005

Smaller chips more fragile, warns Intel

Expect more blue screens as processors shrink  09 Jun 2005

Consumer semiconductor sales to double by 2009

'Dramatic evolution' as sales approach the $30bn mark  27 Apr 2005

IBM/Sony/Toshiba unveil Cell superchip

Prototype integrates 234 million transistors and runs at 4GHz  08 Feb 2005

The race to 10GHz

Within the next three years processors will be nudging 10GHz, but problems such as power consumption have to be overcome first  18 Nov 2004

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