Toshiba Corp. (Japan) and NEC Electronics Corp. have announced that they will jointly develop technology to produce next-generation semiconductors that are smaller, faster, more efficient, and less costly. The new chips will have circuit widths as narrow as 45 nm, allowing electronics makers to also shrink the size of their products. The companies said joint development would allow them to share the hefty costs associated with creating new chip technology and speed up the development process, adding they had started discussing a comprehensive alliance in their semiconductor operations.
The current agreement came after NEC Electronics warned in late October it would fall deep into the red this fiscal year after falling sales and prices for a range of its chip products.
