Fujitsu Ltd is to team up with Sony Corp on the development of next generation chips based on 0.18 micron process technology. Although a final agreement has yet to be reached, the companies anticipate they will conclude a formal agreement in the spring. The companies have teamed up after deciding that pursuing such technology on their own would prove too expensive. A joint production line will be established at Fujitsu’s plant in Mie Prefecture in Japan, and production is anticipated to start in autumn next year. Fujitsu hopes the partnership will shorten product development times and establish a strong business portion for the new technology. Fujitsu will provide Sony with the 0.18 logic process technology for the Large Scale Integration chips, and both operations will work on the development of technology for chips integrating logic with embedded dynamic random access memory. It looks likely that as a result of this venture, Sony and Fujitsu will embark on a the development of 0.13 micron logic process technology, although time scales have not been applied to this.
