Like many of the chip manufacturers caught in the semiconductor slump, Fujitsu Microelectronics Inc is actively hunting for new markets and has decided to start producing chips for consumer devices, such as consumer and internet-enabled devices and digital TVs. The firm is planning to launch a DTV chipset in the US this summer and is developing custom ASICs and standardized system-on-a-chip components for consumer devices. However, with other major DRAM manufacturers, such as Hitachi Ltd, migrating from the unprofitable memory chips to a more specifically consumer-chip orientated business, there is a danger of moving the kind of over capacity prevalent in the DRAM market into the consumer chip arena.
