Western Digital, Sanyo to Develop CD-ROM Chip

Western Digital Corp. said Tuesday that it has entered into a strategic relationship with Sanyo Electric Co. to develop a semiconductor chip that would make it easier to connect a CD-ROM player to a personal computer.

The deal, announced in Tokyo, will have the two companies working together in creating the chip for CD-ROMs, one of the fastest-growing segments of the peripheral market. The players hold compact discs that can hold far more data than conventional hard or floppy disk drives for personal computers.

Western Digital in Irvine designs computer chips while Sanyo is one of the world’s largest makers of CD-ROM systems. Once the chip is developed, it could be sold to other makers of CD-ROMs as well.

“It’s win-win for both companies,” said Gary Marks, Western Digital vice president, although no financial details of the arrangement were released.

At present, connecting a CD-ROM to a personal computer can be a time-consuming task involving wiring and plugs, differing between the various makers of personal computers.

The Western Digital-Sanyo linkup would create a single 40-pin plug similar to ones that hook up other peripheral devices like electronic printers. Not only would the connection be easier, Marks said, but it could become the standard of the industry if it is widely adopted by other makers.