Toshiba Corp and Sony Corp said they have pioneered a technology to make system chips smaller and faster, positioning the partners to take on rivals such as Intel Corp and International Business Machines Corp.
The Tokyo-based companies have developed a prototype system chip using 65nm process technology. The technology will be ready for commercial application by March 2004, they said.
Japanese chipmakers are sharing research budgets after posting record losses last year. The 65-nanometer technology uses circuits that are half the width of those currently available, shrinking the chip size and allowing more functions to be packed into a single chip. System chips combine several functions.
Toshiba and Sony said they will spend Japanese Yen 15 billion to market system chips by March 2004.
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