In a big pitch for the Taiwanese market, IBM Corp and Motorola Inc have persuaded the Taiwanese government and about 20 Taiwan-based companies to launch a local consortium to promote and develop products based on the PowerPC chip. Taiwan New PC comprises personal computer builders, which are currently big Intel Corp customers, such as Mitac International Corp, Tatung Co and Datatech Enterprises Co Ltd; suppliers of motherboards, add-in boards and components; and Taiwan’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, United Microelectronics Corp. United Microelectronics plans to develop a chip set for the PowerPC and is said to fancy licensing and becoming a foundry for the processor. IBM and Motorola denied discussing any licence deals with United Micro.
