Canon, Toshiba forge new joint venture

TOKYO – Major Japanese electronics manufacturers Canon Inc. and Toshiba Corp. yesterday announced an agreement to jointly develop, make and sell next generation flat display panels which are thinner than conventional flatscreens.

The two companies are to set up a joint venture to make surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) panels in October this year in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, with initial capital of one billion yen (N$60,06 million). “SED panels will become the ultimate flat panel technology, as it will achieve CRT (cathode-ray tube) level resolution in a flat panel structure,” Toshiba president Tadashi Okamura said at a press conference.Canon will hold a majority 50,002 per cent stake in the venture, SED Inc., and Toshiba the remaining 49,998 per cent, the two companies said, adding that the venture will hire 300 employees by January next year.SED Inc will begin mass production of SED panels in 2005, but the two firms did not disclose any sales and production targets for the venture.Canon, Japan’s top office equipment and camera maker, began research in the field of SED technology in 1986 and has jointly developed SED panels with Toshiba since 1999.Both Canon and Toshiba currently have only a limited presence in the flat TV market, but with the new joint venture, the two aim to make major inroads into this business and eventually become the top-ranked maker.Canon currently makes no flat TVs, including LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs or plasma display panel (PDP) TVs, while Toshiba makes some LCD-TVs but almost no PDP TVs.-Nampa-AFP”SED panels will become the ultimate flat panel technology, as it will achieve CRT (cathode-ray tube) level resolution in a flat panel structure,” Toshiba president Tadashi Okamura said at a press conference.Canon will hold a majority 50,002 per cent stake in the venture, SED Inc., and Toshiba the remaining 49,998 per cent, the two companies said, adding that the venture will hire 300 employees by January next year.SED Inc will begin mass production of SED panels in 2005, but the two firms did not disclose any sales and production targets for the venture.Canon, Japan’s top office equipment and camera maker, began research in the field of SED technology in 1986 and has jointly developed SED panels with Toshiba since 1999.Both Canon and Toshiba currently have only a limited presence in the flat TV market, but with the new joint venture, the two aim to make major inroads into this business and eventually become the top-ranked maker.Canon currently makes no flat TVs, including LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs or plasma display panel (PDP) TVs, while Toshiba makes some LCD-TVs but almost no PDP TVs.-Nampa-AFP