NEC, NEC Electronics, Matsushita, Panasonic Mobile and Texas Instruments have signed an agreement to establish a new joint venture company. The new company, Adcore-Tech Co. Ltd., will conduct global development, design and technology licensing for a hardware and software communications platform to manage the core communications functions for mobile handsets for the third generation (3G/3.5G) and beyond.


The company is scheduled to be established this month (August 2006) at the Yokosuka Research Park in Yokosuka, Japan, with approximately 180 employees. The five companies will jointly invest 12.0 billion yen in the new joint venture, with approximately 44 percent held jointly by NEC and NEC Electronics, approximately 44 percent held jointly by Matsushita and Panasonic Mobile, and approximately 12 percent held by Texas Instruments.

By concentrating the technologies and development resources of all five companies, Adcore-Tech will be in a strong position to facilitate speedy and efficient development of the increasingly sophisticated communications technology for mobile handsets at 3G/3.5G and beyond. Mobile handsets based on the new communications platform are expected to become available in the fall of 2007.