Panasonic, Fujitsu, Renesas eye chip merger

Times sure have changed. There was a time when Japanese semiconductor companies ruled the Earth, not anymore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_sales_leaders_by_year

Indeed. However, these mergers should do much to improve competitiveness. For Japan, the less fragmentation, the better the odds of competing on price and efficiency. We're going to see a lot of mergers and tie ups in the next few years.

This is no surprise. Renesas was formed from a merger of Hitachi and Mitsubishi's semiconductor divisions. When I did some work there 4-5 years ago, the writing was already on the wall that more moves were needed in Japan's industry. Hopefully for the people I met that are still with Renesas, this move will help them keep their jobs for many more years.

@Patrick Hattman

Add NEC Electronics to the mix. NEC Electronics was spun off of NEC some years ago and in 2010 it merged with Renesas Technology creating Renesas Electronics.

Fujitsu is a minor player in semiconductors. Panasonic still has some clout being one of the top 20 semiconductor makers in terms of revenue.

In a way. When I hear and read about all of this, can't help to smile. I read The Japan That Can Say No, and I just wanna go to Ishihara and ask him how he feels about all of this.

Add NEC Electronics to the mix. NEC Electronics was spun off of NEC some years ago and in 2010 it merged with Renesas Technology creating Renesas Electronics.

Thanks for the info.