NEC and Lucent to Develop New Chips

Japan’s top semiconductor maker, NEC Corp., and Lucent Technologies Inc., one of the world’s biggest telecom equipment makers, joined to develop chips that would support next-generation communications systems and digital appliances. NEC and Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent agreed to cooperate on so-called system LSI (large-scale integration), which combines multiple functions on a sliver of silicon. NEC is Japan’s biggest maker of DRAMs, the main memory of personal computers, a market in which prices have collapsed. Demand for system LSI products is expected to boom as digital televisions, mobile phones and a new generation of household electronic products hit the market. Lucent shares fell $1.94 to close at $75.94 on the New York Stock Exchange. NEC’s American depositary receipts rose 13 cents to close at $34.75 on Nasdaq.