Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Japan) reported that it has joined the International Sematech Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI, Austin, TX), a chip research and development consortium, effective October 1, 2004. A subsidiary of Sematech, ISMI was formed earlier this year as a new consortium dedicated to fab productivity, equipment productivity, metrology, and environment/safety/health. ISMI members include AMD, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Infineon, Intel, Freescale, Philips, Texas Instruments and TSMC.
"Matsushita is an industry leader, and one of the top manufacturers of consumer electronics; and we look forward to its participation in ISMI," stated Sematech President and CEO Michael Polcari. "The addition of a Japanese company will increase the breadth of ISMI and reinforce its already recognized global influence within the industry."