Hitachi's quest for super chips: Japan's giants vie for market edge

Article Abstract:

Hitachi Ltd is testing the world's first 64M-bit chip, a memory device the size of a fingernail that can store the text of several novels. The capacity of such a device could open the way for hand-held computers that do not need disk drives, recorders as small as a postage stamp that require no tape, and pocket electronic 'organizers' that could contain the entire New York yellow pages. Hitachi's efforts to develop a 64M-bit chip exemplify technological competition in Japan and the strengths and weaknesses of Japan's big-company approach to innovation. Whereas the stereotype of the American chip maker is the entrepreneur moving quickly from one project to the next, competition in Japan tends to pit giant companies against one another in increasingly expensive work on memory devices. Competitors foresee a chip that can hold one billion pieces of information - a gigachip - by the year 2000.

Research, Industrial research, Memory, Hitachi Ltd., Magnetic media, Magnetic storage media, Research and Development, Future Technologies

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U.S. and Japan to start negotiations on computer chips

Article Abstract:

The five-year-old semiconductor accord between the United States and Japan expires in 1991 and many analysts question whether it is necessary to renew it at all. The original accord was implemented to prevent the Japanese from dumping microprocessors onto the US market and thereby putting domestic manufacturers out of business. Unfortunately, by the time the agreement was signed in 1986, most of the manufacturers had already left and, even under the protection of the agreement, none have re-entered the market. Many analysts feel that the accord actually led to higher microprocessor costs in the US, forcing domestic consumers to pay higher prices for products. While the original agreement allowed 20 percent market penetration for US manufacturers, current figures show domestic manufacturers able to hold little more than 13 percent of the Japanese market.

United States, Laws, regulations and rules, Microprocessor, CPUs (Central processing units), International trade, Microprocessors, Japanese foreign relations, United States foreign relations, Commercial treaties, Trade agreements, Government Regulation

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Contrasts on chips; a joint venture collapses in U.S., Japanese companies act like a cartel

Article Abstract:

Within a short time after U.S. Memories folded, Japan's largest chip manufacturers announced plans to cut production of their 1Mbyte memory chips in order to keep prices and profits high. U.S. Memories, a consortia of companies that wanted to compete with Japanese semiconductor manufacturers, decided to end its cooperative venture to make computer chips. Such Japanese companies as Toshiba, Hitachi and NEC seemed to act like a cartel, cutting production hours after U.S. Memories disbanded, despite repeated explanations from these companies that they were their own worst competitors. However, concerns remain, as it becomes apparent that the US is not willing to spend the money on becoming a long-term competitor in the chips race. Some industry watcher fear that Japan has created an OPEC-like cartel for semiconductor chips.

Management, Semiconductor chips, Integrated circuits, Competitions, Market share, Consortia, Demand, Supply, Failure, Losses, s, Consortium

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