Fujitsu and Sumitomo to launch joint venture
Fujitsu and Sumitomo Electric are planning to consolidate their compound semiconductor device operations by creating a single joint-venture company.
The Japan-based companies say that the venture should be operational by April 1 this year.
As yet without a name, the new company is expected to have an initial staff of around 1100 and annual sales of 30 billion yen. Fujitsu and Sumitomo Electric will each own half of the equity in the new venture.
The new company will combine the expertise of Fujitsu Quantum Devices (FQD), which makes devices for microwave and optical communications, with Sumitomo’s Photo-Electric Device division.
Although the new venture will benefit from Sumitomo’s expertise in GaAs and InP substrates and epitaxy, the materials business itself is not involved in the joint venture directly.
Sumitomo Electric and Fujitsu say that the joint venture company will concentrate on building a research and development platform focused on process technologies and device performance.
They say that the new company will take a “dominant position in the market for telecommunications infrastructure devices”, as well as seek out new markets with high-growth prospects such as broadband communications, digital home appliances and home networking.
