Toshiba Corp. and NEC Electronics Corp. said Thursday they will expand their partnership with IBM Corp. to jointly develop next-generation chip technologies that will speed up processing and prolong battery life in mobile phones and other consumer products.
Toshiba and NEC Electronics will join a technology alliance IBM formed in April at its New York facility with five other companies, including Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. and Samsung Electronics Co.
The eight firms will codevelop chip technologies for large-scale integration circuits for the 28-nanometer generation, which can be installed in smart phones and netbooks for better performance and lower power consumption.
"Together, the alliance partners will deliver a high-performance, energy efficient technology to enable a full range of multifunction, power-sensitive mobile and consumer electronics," Gary Patton, vice president for IBM's Semiconductor Research and Development Center, said in a statement.
The two Japanese companies already have a partnership with IBM in the development of 32-nanometer technology. Toshiba entered the partnership in December 2007 and NEC Electronics last September.
Toshiba plans to mass produce and market products using 28-nanometer technology in fiscal 2010, an official said.