Western Digital to Develop New Computer Chip : Irvine Company Linked in Venture With Siemens

Western Digital Corp. of Irvine said it has joined with Siemens AG, the West German electronics concern, to develop a revolutionary new computer chip.

The chip, which is being designed at Siemen’s plant in Cupertino, will do work that now requires multiple printed circuit boards, each containing numerous chips, a Western Digital spokesman said. A computer chip is a tiny device that stores and relays information.

The new chip will allow different computers in the same network to communicate with each other more efficiently and at lower cost, the company said. The chip is being designed principally for industrial automation uses, such as linking robot stations in a factory, Western Digital said.

Ben Wiseman, an analyst with InforCorp, a San Jose-based high technology market research firm, said Wednesday that computer chips to control industrial robots have been developed by other companies. But he predicted that there would be a large market for a new chip that is smaller and less expensive than those currently on the market. “The robotic market is going to be hot,” he said. Western Digital said that it expects its new chip to be available by the fourth quarter of 1986. A company spokesman described the venture as “very significant” and said that the link with Siemens will facilitate global marketing.

Both companies will have the right to manufacture the chip, Western Digital said.

In addition to manufacturing semiconductor components, Western Digital also makes computer subsystems and disk controllers. The company posted a loss of $13.4 million for its fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, compared to net income of $3.3 million for the same period a year earlier. The company said that it expects to return to profitability in its fiscal first quarter, which ends Sept. 30.