| Mitsubishi Electric and Toshiba Form Alliance for Development of 3G Mobile Phones 13 March, 2002 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Toshiba Corporation TOKYO, March 13, 2002-- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Toshiba Corporation today announced that they have reached an agreement to collaborate in the development of third-generation (3G) mobile phones. The agreement concerns the joint development of a platform capable of becoming the global standard for 3G mobile phones. Mitsubishi Electric and Toshiba will join forces to develop the new platform with the intention of putting their collaboration results to use in producing actual handsets in the near future. With Internet integration and advances in high-speed, large-volume transmission services, the mobile phone market is witnessing a dramatic expansion of content for mobile handsets, including music, images, and video broadcasts. Mobile handsets, the cornerstone of the mobile Internet environment, have continually evolved and diversified in response to the growing number of services available. 3G phones will need to be compliant not only with an increasing variety of multimedia, but also with global roaming and other services emerging as a result of the increasingly globalized nature of society, the economy and information exchange. Responding to such demands, Mitsubishi Electric and Toshiba, industry leaders in the areas of video-data compression, wireless and digital data processing, including data encryption and BluetoothTM, and with proven track records in GSM, CDMA and PDC handsets, will begin collaborating in April this year on the development of a platform for multimedia-enabled next-generation dual-mode (UMTS, W-CDMA/GSM, GPRS) phones, with the aim of rapidly bringing products to market. Specific details regarding the joint development schedule, division of responsibilities, structure of the development team and other issues will be decided in forthcoming discussions between the companies. With a view to expanding their mobile phone businesses, Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric also plan to build on the achievements of the proposed joint development of the 3G mobile phone platform, using this collaboration as a springboard to forge ties on an even broader front that includes complementing each other's technologies and establishing products for Europe, China and other overseas markets. By integrating and strengthening their technological and product planning capabilities in the field of mobile telephony, Mitsubishi Electric and Toshiba will seek to firmly establish themselves in the global market, turning out competitive, cutting-edge products for the ever-expanding mobile phone sector. Terms
About Mitsubishi Electric Corporation With over 80 years of experience in providing reliable, high-quality products to both corporate clients and general consumers all over the world, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (FTSE: 6503q.l) is a recognized world leader in the manufacture, marketing and sales of electrical and electronic equipment used in information processing and communications, space development and satellite communications, consumer electronics, industrial technology, energy, transportation and construction. The company has operations in 34 countries and recorded consolidated group sales of over US$33BN in the year ended March 31, 2001. Additional information on Mitsubishi Electric is available at www.mitsubishielectric.com. About Toshiba Corporation Toshiba Corporation is a leader in information and communications systems, electronic components, consumer products and power systems. Next-generation MPEG-4 and wireless communications technologies assure Toshiba's pioneering position in W-CDMA in Japan, where it is the technology development partner of NTT DoCoMo, the country's largest mobile service provider. Toshiba has 188,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of over US$47 billion. Visit Toshiba's website at http://www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm Media Contacts Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Toshiba Corporation |
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