Japanese firms in talks on big microchip merger: reports

CHIP TECH

Record fall in world computer sales in Q1: research
World computer sales fell a record 6.5 percent in the first quarter of 2009 against the same period last year because of the economic crisis, US technology market research group Gartner said on Thursday. Gartner is predicting a drop in sales of 11.9 percent over 2009 as a whole. The biggest decline was in Latin America, where computer sales fell 12.4 percent in the first quarter on a 12-month comparison. This was followed by the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, where sales dropped 10.2 percent. Central and Eastern Europe were particularly badly affected, with sales plunging by 25 percent in Russia, Ukraine and Baltic states -- all once-buoyant economies that are now facing painful recessions because of the crisis. Computer sales in the United States fell by just 0.3 percent because of the popularity of low-cost models and US tech company Hewlett Packard remained the global leader with a 19.8-percent share of the market, the research found.

by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) April 16, 2009
Renesas Technology Corp. and NEC Electronics Corp. are in merger talks to create Japan's top chipmaker as they seek to survive the global recession, reports said Thursday.

The two companies are in the final stages of negotiations and aim to reach an agreement by the end of April, the Nikkei economic daily and other Japanese media said without naming their sources.

The deal would create the world's third largest chipmaker.

With the global economic slowdown hitting the industry hard, the two firms see a merger as key to their survival, the Nikkei said. The tie-up would likely be completed by April 2010, it said.

With combined annual sales of more than 1.2 trillion yen (12 billion dollars), the new entity would replace Japanese rival Toshiba Corp. as Japan's top semiconductor maker, it said.

The world's biggest chipmaker is Intel Corp. of the United States, with Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea ranked second.

Renesas, the second-biggest Japanese chipmaker, is a joint venture between Hitachi Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. NEC Electronics, ranked third in Japan, is a subsidiary of leading high-tech company NEC Corp.

Both companies expect to log net losses in the year to March.

Neither company would confirm the report.

"Nothing has been decided regarding business reorganisation," an NEC Electronics company spokeswoman said, while declining to say whether the firm was in talks with Renesas.

A Renesas Technology spokeswoman also declined to comment on whether talks were under way.

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CHIP TECH

US firm investing billions in crisis-hit chip industry

Singapore (AFP) April 9, 2009
Despite the economic slump that has battered the semiconductor business, a new player from the United States' Silicon Valley technology belt is investing billions of dollars in a bid to catch the next wave of growth.

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