MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC AND NEC CORP. SAID THURSDAY THAT THEY WILL SET UP TWO JOINT VENTURES LATER THIS YEAR TO CONSOLIDATE DEVELOPMENT OF CELLULAR PHONE COMMUNICATION AND APPLICATION, AP REPORTED. IN ONE DEAL, WHICH WILL BRING TOGETHER NEC AND MATSUSHITA'S MOBILE PHONE UNIT, PANASONIC MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS CO., IS AIMED AT SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT OF CELLULAR PHONE HANDSETS, HELPING THE TWO MAJOR JAPANESE ELECTRONICS COMPANIES REDUCE COSTS NEEDED FOR INCREASINGLY COMPLICATED CONSUMER DEVICES, THE COMPANIES SAID IN A STATEMENT. NEC AND PANASONIC MOBILE WILL EQUALLY OWN THE JOINT VENTURE, CAPITALIZED AT 100 MILLION YEN (US$862,000; 684,800) AND TO BE SET UP IN EARLY OCTOBER IN YOKOHAMA, NEAR TOKYO. ITS MANAGEMENT DETAILS WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER. NEC AND MATSUSHITA INDUSTRIAL CO. HAVE BOTH BEEN DOWNSIZING THEIR CELL PHONE HANDSET OPERATIONS. THE PROJECT WILL ALLOW THE PARTNERS TO AVOID DUPLICATION, IMPROVE EFFICIENCY AND CUT COSTS, THEY SAID, AS THE INDUSTRY MOVES TO THE NEXT GENERATION MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS. BY JOINING FORCES, THE COMPANIES PLAN TO COMBINE NEC'S EXPERTISE IN COMMUNICATIONS AND COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES AND PANASONIC GROUP'S STRENGTH IN CONSUMER ELECTRONICS AND AUDIO VISUAL PRODUCTS. THE COMPANIES HAVE BEEN COLLABORATING ON THE MOBILE PHONE DEVELOPMENT SINCE 2001. BY MAXIMIZING RATIONALIZATION IN DEVELOPMENT, WE CAN ALLOCATE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO AREAS WHERE THE COMPANIES SEEK DIFFERENTIATION AND COMPETITION, SAID NEC SPOKESWOMAN AKIKO SHIKIMORI. SEPARATELY, NEC AND MATSUSHITA ALSO AGREED TO START ANOTHER JOINT VENTURE WITH TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC. TO DEVELOP LARGE-SCALE INTEGRATED, OR LSI, CHIP DESIGNS AND SOFTWARE TO CONTROL THE CHIPS USED IN HANDSETS APPLICABLE TO HIGH-SPEED NETWORK ACCESS. THE NEW COMPANY, ADCORE-TECH CO, LTD., TO BE SET UP BY MID-AUGUST IN YOKOSUKA, JUST SOUTH OF TOKYO, WILL START WITH A CAPITAL OF 12 BILLION YEN (US$103 MILLION; 82 MILLION). IT AIMS TO DEVELOP COMMUNICATIONS PLATFORM THAT CAN ACCOMMODATE HANDSETS FOR THE THIRD GENERATION AND BEYOND. NEC AND ITS SEMICONDUCTOR ARM NEC ELECTRONICS CORP. WILL INVEST ABOUT 44 PERCENT IN THE VENTURE. MATSUSHITA AND ITS PANASONIC MOBILE WILL ALSO INVEST 44 PERCENT, WITH TEXAS INSTRUMENTS SUPPLYING THE REMAINING 12 PERCENT. THE JOINT VENTURE WILL LICENSE CHIP TECHNOLOGIES TO TEXAS INSTRUMENTS, NEC ELECTRONICS AND MATSUSHITA. THE THREE COMPANIES WILL IN RETURN MARKET SEMICONDUCTORS TO HANDSET MANUFACTURERS. IT PLANS TO HAVE PRODUCTS BASED ON ITS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT SHIPPED BY FALL OF NEXT YEAR.
