Siemens AG confirmed yesterdaty that it plans a joint venture with IBM Corp, Daimler-Benz AG and Robert Bosch GmbH to develop more effective and flexible production methods for semiconductors. Details of the co-operation plan between the four – which are the largest manufacturers of chips in Germany, are still being worked out, but spending on the project would total around $12.5m this year, with half of it being put up by the German government. Siemens sought to play down the project, saying that its financial involvement amounted to only 1% of its total annual expenditure on semiconductor research and development.