Matsushita Electric Industrial Co and NEC Corp said yesterday they are in talks with Texas Instruments Inc, a major US maker of computer chips for handsets, about collaborating on next-generation cellphones.
A major Japanese business daily, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, reported yesterday that the companies plan to set up a joint venture in Japan as early as this summer to develop chips for third-generation cellphones.
A spokesman for Matsushita, Akira Kadota, and NEC spokeswoman Akiko Shikimori confirmed that talks were ongoing, but declined to confirm details of a joint venture. Nothing has been decided, they said.
Third-generation (3G) cellphones, which relay data at about 40 times the speed of standard handsets, are rapidly growing in popularity in Japan, and users watch video clips and download music files with them.
NEC and Matsushita, which makes Panasonic brand products, already have a partnership to jointly develop software for 3G phones. Dallas-based Texas Instruments supplies Matsushita and NEC with chips for third-generation cellphones.
The report said the chips from the venture, likely capitalized at around ?10 billion (US$85.25 million), will be used in Matsushita and NEC phones as well as those from other makers.
Japan's cellphone market is extremely competitive because millions of people use mobile phones to exchange e-mail, search for restaurants, looks up train schedules, store photos and listen to music. This month, a service began that allows users to watch digital TV on some handsets.
Osaka-based Matsushita controlled the top share among the 44 million mobiles shipped last year, with 17 percent, and NEC was second at 16.5 percent , according to IDC, which tracks such data. Sharp Corp had 16 percent and Toshiba 12.5 percent, IDC said.
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