December 3, 1998 Web posted at: 2:10 PM EST by Rob Guth

From...

(IDG) -- Fujitsu and Toshiba will collaborate on developing advanced semiconductor technology that will make its way into products around 2002, the vendors said Thursday.

The two computer companies said they are joining forces to beat the growing costs of developing chip technology amid a market that is experiencing falling semiconductor prices.

The focus of the work will be on building a 1-gigabit DRAM chip from 0.13-micron technology. Current mainstream DRAMs have capacities of 64 Mb and use a 0.25-micron distance between lines etched on their silicon.

The work will require a joint team of 100 researchers, to be housed at a Toshiba site in Yokohama, Japan, and will have a budget of more than $247 million, the vendors said.

The companies will release prototypes of the chips in 2002, depending upon the prevailing conditions in the chip market at that time, a Fujitsu spokesman said.

Rob Guth is a correspondent in the Tokyo bureau of the IDG News Service.