Sony Agrees to Purchase Stake in Irvine’s CXC

CXC Corp., an Irvine manufacturer of business telephone systems, said it has signed development and marketing agreements with Tokyo-based Sony Corp. The agreements include the purchase by the Japanese high-tech firm of a stake in privately held CXC.

Roger Jewett, CXC’s vice president of business development, declined to disclose how much Sony paid or the size of its holding in the company.

Under terms of the agreement, signed in late April, Sony will have exclusive rights to market CXC’s “ROSE” telephone system in Japan and will have non-exclusive marketing rights in other countries. Marketing of the ROSE system in Japan is subject to Japanese government approval, but is expected to begin by late 1987, Jewett said.

The deal also permits Sony to manufacture the ROSE system in Japan.

Unlike many existing business telephone systems, the ROSE permits transmission of computer graphics and other data over the telephone lines without use of modems, Jewett said.

Currently, there are 70 of CXC’s systems in use nationwide, ranging in size from about 50 telephones to about 800 telephones. The average cost per telephone is about $1,200, Jewett said.