JapanÆs 10 top chipmakers, have agreed to cooperate in a five-year, 200 billion yen ($1.9bn) project to develop sub-micron technology for next-generation semiconductors, which will also receive government financial assistance. It is the first joint chip project between the government and the private sector since the early 1980s when the US raised strong objections on antitrust grounds.
According to a report in the Japanese press, the project is not expected violate antitrust law because it involves only basic production technology. But it is still possible European and US chip firms will protest government involvement in the effort.
The project, backed by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, aims to help Japan’s semiconductor industry recover competitiveness. The private sector participants include NEC Corp, Toshiba Corp, Hitachi Ltd, Fujitsu Ltd, Mitsubishi Electric Corp, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, Sony Corp, Sharp Corp, Sanyo Electric Co and Oki Electric Industry Co.
The project is aiming to develop technology for processing circuit widths of 0.1
micron or less, expected to be needed for commercial production by 2004. Preliminary research will start next year and a joint research center with trial fabrication facilities will be completed by 2001. The companies taking part will assign several hundred engineers to the project.
According to the report Japanese makers were expected to be about two years behind foreign competitors because of shortage of funding following JapanÆs economic slump. By combining technologies we will be able to shorten development time and outpace European and US makers, the report quoted a senior executive at a major semiconductor company as saying.
