vnunet.com Asia news wrap: Thursday 10 November

vnunet.com Asia news wrap

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.