Can public aid save chip makers?

Crippled by the unprecedented economic crisis, ailing semiconductor and electronics makers are desperate for a helping hand to stem their losses.

That aid is now on its way as the government rolls out a new capital-boosting plan that will allow struggling companies outside the financial sector to receive de facto public funds to prop up their deteriorating financial base.

Loss-making Elpida Memory Inc. and Pioneer Corp. are already preparing to apply for the program this month, while Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. are believed to be studying the option. Other electronics makers, including Fujitsu Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp., have also been ravaged by losses in their chip-making affiliates.