Although details have not been finalized, IIDA INDUSTRY CO., LTD., a manufacturer of foamed plastics used as antivibration and shock absorber materials, plans to build a production facility somewhere in suburban Detroit in 1999. Before then, the Aichi prefecture-headquartered company will open a sales office to launch marketing activities and to gather information. Iida Industry hopes to gain business from MITSUBISHI MOTORS CORP., TOYOTA MOTOR CORP. and other North American automotive transplant operations as well as from the Big Three U.S. car and truck builders. It is projecting sales in 2000 at $1.5 million.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers have available a new facility in Summit, New Jersey for pilot product production and pilot testing. Built and operated by the Hosokawa Micron Powder Systems part of HOSOKAWA MICRON CORP., the Hosokawa Pharma Tech Center meets current industry and Food and Drug Administration standards. The $1.1 million facility includes two processing suites designed to afford maximum Good Manufacturing Practices conditions, a clean equipment storage area, equipment washroom, material quarantine and release areas and a separate analytical laboratory with complete testing capabilities for all test runs. Hosokawa Micron Powder Systems, also located in Summit, is a supplier of integrated powder and particle processing systems.
Anticipating the launch of a treatment for diabetes around 2001, TAKEDA CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES, LTD. set up a marketing firm in New York City through its recently established U.S. holding company (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 340, January 1998, p. 2). Actos, which is undergoing Phase III clinical testing, will be comarketed by TAKEDA PHARMACEUTICALS AMERICA, INC. and ELI LILLY AND CO.
TAISHO PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD. has opened an office in New York City to organize and oversee clinical trials by a local contract research organization of NE- 100, a treatment for multiple personality disorders. Testing will begin in the spring of 1999.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
In an effort to improve its competitive position in the market for servers running the forthcoming Windows NT 5.0 operating system, HITACHI, LTD. has forged a broad technological tie-up with MICROSOFT CORP. One thrust of their collaboration will be to develop more reliable products for mission-critical applications by drawing in part on Hitachi's mainframe expertise. To facilitate this and related work, the Japanese computer maker will send a team of systems engineers to Microsoft's Redmond, Washington headquarters. The two companies also will set up a joint technological support center. NEC CORP. has a similar arrangement with Microsoft on servers (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 336, September 1997, pp. 2-3).
Being a top player in the brutal American personal computer market is proving to be even harder and more expensive than NEC CORP. anticipated. Over the last three years, the company has committed $1.3 billion in cash and assets to affiliate PACKARD BELL NEC INC. (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 340, January 1998, p. 3). However, the Sacramento, California PC maker's shipments and market standing have continued to drop, adding to the pressure on the bottom line. To cut costs, Packard Bell NEC will close a plant in Fife, Washington that makes the NEC Versa line of notebook computers and transfer that output to its Sacramento campus. It also will relocate most of the people handling inside sales, customer service and technical support and engineering for the NEC Computer Systems division from Boxborough, Massachusetts to Sacramento. Expected to be completed by yearend, the consolidation will result in a net reduction of 400 employees from Packard Bell NEC's worldwide total of 8,000.
SONY CORP. also has learned how unforgiving the PC market can be. Its 1996 attempt to break into the market by using its strong consumer brand name to sell full- featured, expensive machines for the home went bust. The company is undeterred, however. Saying that it is in the computer business for the long haul, Sony shifted marketing gears and unveiled a sub-$1,000 PC. The PCV-E201 is a multimedia- oriented machine powered by INTEL CORP.'s new, low-cost Celeron microprocessor. It also introduced a high-end, Pentium-based model priced at $1,700. To get the right balance between price and performance, Sony is using 300-megahertz and 333-MHz processors in this machine rather than Intel's top-of-the-line 350-MHz and 400-MHz chips.
Thanks to SONY ELECTRONICS, INC.'s FunMail device, people with Windows-based desktop PCs will be able to send electronic mail messages heavy on video and audio without straining the recipient's memory capacity. The key to that capability is the $199 system's data compression technology, which can reduce a video e-mail message to 1/250th of its original size. The SONY CORP. subsidiary plans to adapt FunMail for notebook PCs and Macintosh machines.
SONY ELECTRONICS, INC. has an August ship date for what it claims is the flattest 21-inch high-resolution CRT (cathode-ray tube) display. The Trinitron-based GDM- F500, which has a viewable area of 19.8 inches, is said to be half the depth of conventional CRTs. It will cost around $1,900. .....Also targeting the high-performance market, SONY ELECTRONICS, INC. has in stores the $2,200 Multiscan L150, a thin- film-transistor LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor with a viewable area of 15 inches. It is just 6.5 inches deep.
Samples of one of the first 50-inch (diagonal) plasma display panels will be available later this year from marketer NEC ELECTRONICS, INC. The successor to the 42-inch PDP can support high-definition television signals as well as be used for such imaging applications as medical diagnostics. It accommodates resolutions ranging from 320x240 to 1280x1024 in 4-bit, 6-bit or 8-bit full color. Pricing has not been determined.
HITACHI, LTD.'s computer storage manufacturing facility in Norman, Oklahoma will build storage subsystems for ZITEL CORP. The arrangement will free up resources for the Fremont, California company while still allowing it to supply customers around the world. HITACHI COMPUTER PRODUCTS (AMERICA), INC. currently makes storage subsystems for mainframe supplier HITACHI DATA SYSTEMS CORP. of Santa Clara, California as well as companies unaffiliated with Hitachi.
In a first for the company, JAPAN COMPUTER INDUSTRY CO., LTD. has licensed CTG INC. of Dayton, Ohio to manufacture its palm-size external print server and market it in North and South America. Production of the JC Connect M1200, rechristened the JLP1200 for U.S. sale, has started in Taiwan. Computer cable maker CTG also is supplying the product to Osaka-based JCI for sale in Japan, where it is priced at $295, or 30 percent less than other external print servers.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
In a break with the typical story of financially strapped Japanese companies pulling out of the American real estate market, the NOMURA INVESTMENT CO. unit of NOMURA SECURITIES CO., LTD. bought into the developer and operator of the Woodfin Suite Hotels for business travelers. Nomura Investment acquired 35 percent of HARDAGE SUITE HOTELS LLC for $81.5 million. It also is making available to the San Diego, California company $405.5 million in construction, acquisition and permanent-loan financing. Hardage will use this money to expand the chain. It has the ambitious goal of building one new Woodfin Suite Hotel a month over the next five years.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
Its Sega Saturn machine blown out of the home video game market by SONY CORP.'s PlayStation and NINTENDO CO., LTD.'s Nintendo 64 (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 343, April 1998, p. 4), SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD. will spend as much as $100 million to launch its next-generation Dreamcast system in the United States. Codeveloped with MICROSOFT CORP., the machine combines a console running a version of Windows CE, a PC and Internet gaming features. Its graphics will be 10 times sharper than the Sega Saturn's, while the sound will be compact disc quality. Dreamcast will be released in Japan in late November. It will appear in this country roughly a year later. In the meantime, Sega is lining up software companies to develop games for Dreamcast.
With digital television broadcasting set to start this fall, the first high-definition and standard-definition TV sets are arriving in stores. To the surprise of some experts, though, early shippers MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP. and MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. both introduced what they call upgradable analog sets with separate set-top box-like receivers and televisions. The seven digital-capable MITSUBISHI CONSUMER ELECTRONICS AMERICA, INC. models, which are upgradable to all 18 HDTV formats, range in screen size from 50 inches to 80 inches. They are priced between $4,000 and $10,000, but buyers also have to invest $3,000 in a proprietary MELCO receiver. Similarly, the 56-inch television rolled out by PANASONIC CONSUMER ELECTRONICS CO. supports all HDTV formats. It costs around $6,000, plus $1,700 for a proprietary upgradable digital set-top box decoder. Panasonic also unveiled 32-inch and 36-inch digital-compatible TVs, although they support only limited resolution of DTV signals. These models are priced at $1,800 and $3,200, respectively.
To capitalize on the anticipated growth of DTV and other digital appliances, HITACHI, LTD. decided that HITACHI HOME ELECTRONICS (AMERICA), INC. will specialize in the development and sale of these products. Effective July 1, the Norcross, Georgia subsidiary transferred its import and marketing rights to information-related equipment to Tarrytown, New York-headquartered HITACHI AMERICA, LTD. It also relocated to California, where Hitachi's product development operations are based. These moves, Hitachi Home Electronics projects, will boost FY 1999 sales 10 percent above FY 1997's.
Port Washington, New York-headquartered SANREX CORP., a marketer of discrete power semiconductors, power modules, intelligent power modules and other industrial power products made by parent SANSHA ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING CO., LTD. of Osaka, has broadened its operations. It formed SANREX TECHNICAL SERVICES LLC, also located in Port Washington, to provide value-added engineering services and to participate in the development and the implementation of preventive maintenance programs for SanRex equipment. SanRex supplies its products on an original equipment manufacturer basis to THERMAL DYNAMICS CORP. of St. Louis.
SEIKO EPSON CORP. spun out the electronic component division of EPSON AMERICA, INC. into a separate company. Also located in Torrance, California, EPSON ELECTRONICS AMERICA, INC. primarily sells quartz devices, LCDs, motors and magnets, PC cards and device-applied products. It accounts for about 30 percent of Seiko Epson's U.S. sales. The split was designed to bring more focus to electronic devices. Epson America's main products are scanners, digital cameras and other retail-oriented goods, which are sold through different channels than electronic components.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
The ranks of primary dealers -- companies that buy and sell U.S. government securities through direct deals with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York -- are being thinned by two to 34. EASTBRIDGE CAPITAL INC. is closing down because of the troubled status of its parent. NIPPON CREDIT BANK, LTD. formed Eastbridge in 1989 in partnership with American interests. When NCB outlined a restructuring plan in April 1997, it said that the New York City company, which employs about 50 people, would be sold. .....Meanwhile, SANWA BANK, LTD. is in the process of liquidating SANWA SECURITIES (U.S.A.) CO. as part of a plan to concentrate its American operations on more profitable activities. Formed in 1980, the Manhattan-based firm has about 140 people on the payroll. Henceforth, the big commercial bank will focus its securities-related business in this country on derivatives via New York City's SANWA FINANCIAL PRODUCTS CO., LLP. Sanwa Bank also will continue to engage in futures trading through SANWA FUTURES, LLC of Chicago.
The strong American economy has persuaded ORIX CORP. that now is the time to make money on the sale of its wholly owned Secaucus, New Jersey leasing subsidiary. Japan's top lessor bought what became ORIX CREDIT ALLIANCE CORP. in September 1989 for $190 million. The business, which leases construction and transportation equipment from offices across the country, reported a pretax profit of $72 million on revenues of $248 million in the year through March 1997. OCAC's pretax profit has been expanding by 17 percent a year on average since Orix bought the firm.
MITSUI MARINE & FIRE INSURANCE CO., LTD. is the first Japanese property and casualty insurer to participate in the Catastrophe Risk Exchange or CATEX. Based in Princeton, New Jersey, the computer-based trading exchange allows insurers and reinsurers to diversify their potential liabilities. Using an open bid and ask system, they can trade risks that they have written with other companies that have written risks in different geographic locations and have insured various types of property against a variety of different perils.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
Japan's top institutional food service company is using an acquisition to bolster its expertise in this field. For $45.4 million, SHIDAX CORP. bought a 74.3 percent interest in BON APPETIT CO. The 11-year-old Menlo Park, California company provides food service to corporations and schools in 13 states. It employs 5,000 people and has annual revenues approaching $150 million. The renamed SHIDAX BON APPETIT CO. continues to be run by the same management team, which owns the remaining 25.7 percent of the company's shares. The ties between the two companies date to last summer when Bon Appetit helped Shidax on HACCP (hazard analysis clinical control point) methods for food facilities.
In its second deal with a top U.S. food company, MATSUTANI CHEMICAL INDUSTRY CO., LTD. has a contract to supply its FDA-approved water-based food fiber to KRAFT GENERAL FOODS, INC. Early last year, the Hyogo prefecture company consigned production of FiberSol-2 for the American market to ARCHER-DANIELS-MIDLAND CO. With the Kraft contract as well as the earlier one from CAMPBELL SOUP CO., the big Decatur, Illinois agribusiness will expand its FiberSol-2 capacity to about 17,600 tons a year from the current 4,400 tons. The expansion is expected to be completed by the end of 1998.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
To better serve its automotive customers, NATIONAL STEEL CORP. will add a 500,000-ton-a-year hot-dip galvanizing line at its Great Lakes division in Ecorse, Michigan. The state-of-the-art facility, expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2000, will be able to produce coated products in widths from 28 inches to 72 inches and in gauges from 0.018 inch to 0.08 inch. The company looked at more than 40 greenfield sites in the Midwest before deciding to build the automotive coating line at its Ecorse complex. The fourth-largest integrated steel company in the United States, National Steel is majority-owned by NKK CORP. Its mills in Granite City, Illinois, Portage, Indiana and Ecorse employ approximately 9,400 people and turn out about 6 million tons of flat-rolled products a year.
Frequent collaborators MITSUI & CO., LTD. and STEEL TECHNOLOGIES INC. will build a plant in San Diego, California to slit and cut steel coils mainly for Japanese- affiliated producers operating on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. The trader will own 70 percent of SAN DIEGO COIL CENTER INC., with its Louisville, Kentucky partner putting up the rest of the capital. The venture expects to process about 30,000 tons of steel in the first year of operations, which could start before the end of 1998, and roughly 72,000 tons within five years. While Mitsui runs seven steel service centers here, San Diego Coil Center is the first one west of the Mississippi River. Existing Mitsui-STI steel processing facilities are in Morgan County, Alabama, Greensburg, Indiana and Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Commercial production of polycrystalline silicon for silicon wafers has started at MITSUBISHI MATERIALS CORP.'s $150 million facility in Theodore, Alabama, outside Mobile. MITSUBISHI POLYCRYSTALLINE SILICON AMERICA CORP., which employs 100 people, has the capacity to turn out 1,000 tons of polysilicon a year. Most of this output will be shipped to U.S. customers.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER CO., INC., the world's biggest electricity provider, has ordered $500 million-plus worth of turbines and generators from GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. to expand its Chiba prefecture generating plant. With the additional equipment, the capacity of the liquefied natural gas-fired facility will expand from 2,000 megawatts now to 5,040 MW by July 2001. The contract was announced amid growing U.S. pressure on Japan's electric utilities to buy more American-made power equipment. TEPCO executives said, however, that their decision to award the large contract to GE, a longtime supplier, was motivated solely by the company's drive to slash electricity rates by buying the lowest-priced quality equipment available.
In an effort to boost its small, general-purpose gasoline engine business, MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD. has launched direct sales in the United States and Europe. Until now, the company exclusively supplied engines to BRIGGS & STRATTON CORP. on an OEM basis. MHI is projecting engine sales under its name in the United States and Europe at 22,000 units in FY 1998. Milwaukee, Wisconsin- based B&S forecasts sales of Vanguard-brand engines in these two markets at 150,000 units in its 1998 reporting year.
The product line offered by PANASONIC FACTORY AUTOMATION CO. now includes the Panasert MMC high-speed component mounter. The machine, which fits in front of the feeder carriage of assembly machines, features a 10-nozzle, two-head pickup system. That configuration allows the simultaneous pickup of 10 components and their placement in just 0.2 second per part. The Franklin Park, Illinois firm is a MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. affiliate.
An innovative line of fittings for water pipelines has been introduced by Cary, North Carolina-based SUIKEN + KENNEDY, LLP. ONE-BOLT fittings are self-contained units with all the parts needed for sealing (via an o-ring seal), restraining and joint assembly. They require no beveling of the pipe and no special assembly tools. Disassembly is said to be just as easy as assembly. Plus, ONE-BOLT fittings work on both polyvinyl chloride and ductile iron pipe. Suiken + Kennedy is owned by SUIKEN TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. of Osaka.
A far greater variety of products are available from vending machines in Japan than in the United States, including CDs and videotapes. That convenience has arrived here. NIPPON TMI CO., LTD., a Nagano prefecture-based maker of video rental "robots," has signed up ANIMAZING ENTERTAINMENT INC. to distribute its MS-2 vending machine. It holds 256 CDs or 140 videotapes and is operated by voice message. The Chester, New Jersey company hopes to install 300 machines in the first year, mostly in movie theaters.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
Document management equipment marketer SAVIN CORP., which is owned by RICOH CO., LTD., acquired for roughly $15.6 million the nationwide copier and facsimile-related retail operations of Morris Plains, New Jersey-based MONROE SYSTEMS FOR BUSINESS, INC. Earlier, Stamford, Connecticut-based Savin bought GESTETNER CORP., a competitor that also has a retail network. As a result of these two deals, Savin will have direct sales operations in most major U.S. markets for its digital copiers, full-color digital imaging systems, analog copiers, fax machines, digital multifunctional systems, and parts and supplies.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
Scottsdale, Arizona-based AQUARIUS MEDICAL CORP., a medical systems developer that KOBAYASHI PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD. acquired in February 1997 for about $9.3 million, will start to make and market this summer its parent's Thermo- STAT body core warming device. The portable, cordless system provides a noninvasive means of treating or preventing hypothermia. However, unlike other products, which deliver a maximum human body core temperature rewarming rate of 1º centigrade per hour, Thermo-STAT accelerates the rewarming rate to 1ºC every 5 minutes or so. In time, Osaka's Kobayashi Pharmaceutical plans to export Thermo- STAT to Europe and Japan. It is projecting system sales of $37 million in 2006.
SAKURA FINETEK U.S.A., INC. opened a new U.S. headquarters in Torrance, California. The company is the marketing arm of SAKURA FINE TECHNICAL CO., LTD., a manufacturer of histology and cytology equipment and disposables. The site has room for the addition of a R&D center and manufacturing facility should the company decide to go in that direction.
Production of the VP series of high-performance liquid chromatographs has officially started at SHIMADZU USA MANUFACTURING, INC. in Canby, Oregon. The grand opening of the $10 million facility coincided with the announcement that SHIMADZU CORP. would add a department to develop HPLC products adapted to the needs of the American market and to focus on the improvement of HPLC detectors that use light-beam technology. The plant currently employs about 60 people. Staffing is expected to expand to 100 next year. Sales, forecast at $3.5 million in 1998, could reach $7.4 million in 2000. Pharmaceutical companies and other manufacturers use chromatographs to analyze the composition of liquids in their research and development work and in manufacturing.
Furthering its biomedical group's commitment to the areas of cell biology and genomic DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) research, TAKARA SHUZO CO., LTD. tentatively agreed with GENETIC MICROSYSTEMS INC. to jointly commercialize products based on DNA microarray technology. The Woburn, Massachusetts start-up is developing a new generation of enabling products for genomics research and drug discovery; it already has come up with instrumentation for DNA microarray-based analysis. Under the pending arrangement, sake maker Takara Shuzo will help fund Genetic MicroSystems' product development work as well as take an undisclosed equity position in the company. In return, it will gain exclusive rights to distribute GMS DNA microarray products in Japan, the People's Republic of China, South Korea and Taiwan. The Japanese partner also will be able to use the GMS technology platform to manufacture DNA chips and to provide array making and reading services in the four markets.
The Department of State's Passport Office is using a machine for printing passports that supplier TOPPAN PRINTING CO., LTD. claims yields documents that are virtually forgery proof. In a single pass, the MP3000US digitizes the applicant's photo, prints the picture and personal data in a special ink and laminates the page. The Toppan- developed printing ink is highly resistant to exposure to light, pressure and alcohol, making passports difficult to alter.
The world's top manufacturer of photoblanks or photomask substrates, HOYA CORP., and the international leader in photomask production, DUPONT PHOTOMASKS, INC., have entered into a strategic alliance. They will collaborate on the development of advanced photoblanks used in the production of binary and phase-shift photomasks for the manufacture of semiconductors with 0.18-micron design rules and below. Hoya will supply Round Rock, Texas DPI with developmental photoblanks -- highly polished quartz plates coated with ultrathin layers of chrome and photoresist -- based on jointly decided design and performance specifications. For an undisclosed period, DPI will have exclusive rights to use the photoblanks and the technology developed as a result of the partnership. It also agreed to use Hoya photoblanks in its photomask manufacturing operations, supplementing products made at its Poughkeepsie, New York plant.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
With SONY CORP.'s technical guidance, BROADCOM CORP., an Irvine, California developer of high-speed semiconductors for cable modems, has come up with what it says is the first single-chip solution capable of receiving cable television signals as well as terrestrial digital TV broadcast signals. The consumer electronics giant will use the DTV/QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation, the portion of the device for CATV signals) chips in its high-definition/standard-definition television set-top boxes and TV sets. However, the agreement with Sony is not exclusive.
In the latest expansion of its long-established San Diego, California integrated circuit packaging plant, KYOCERA CORP. is adding a $5.7 million assembly line for flip chips. Expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year, the line will be able to assemble land grid array, ball grid array and pin grid array ceramic flip chip packages with lead counts greater than 300 input/output connections. Last fall, the world's top maker of IC packages invested $11 million in the factory (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 336, September 1997, pp. 6-7).
Austin, Texas-based AERA CORP., a manufacturer of mass gas-flow controllers for the semiconductor industry that is owned by NIPPON TYLAN CORP., has introduced an Ultra Sonic Flowmeter designed specifically for use in chemical mechanical polishing operations at wafer fabrication facilities. The USF100A-K measures the flow of the CMP slurry. It is reported to incorporate several features that enable higher purity in both flow measurement and wafer polishing.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
Add FIRST VIRTUAL HOLDINGS INC. to the list of American businesses owned in whole or in part by SOFTBANK CORP. Through its U.S. holding company and an affiliated venture capital fund, the acquisition-hungry software wholesaler has a majority interest in the San Diego, California specialist in messaging systems for Internet commerce. First Virtual's current focus is on supplying an integrated system for relationship-based transactive messaging using standard electronic mail. YAHOO! INC. is among the other Internet concerns in which Softbank is a stockholder.
In its first major move into the on-line digital imaging market, SONY ELECTRONICS, INC. is launching ImageStation on PhotoNet. Developed in conjunction with PHOTOVISION INC. of Herndon, Virginia (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 339, December 1997, p. 6), the service gives users new ways to view, store and share images via the Internet. Sony Electronics is charging $8.99 plus tax, shipping and handling to develop a 24-frame roll of film, including a set of prints and negatives and professional digital scanning. An on-line photo album holding 50 pictures costs $19.95 for a year.
Two of the big names in the entertainment software field -- SQUARE CO., LTD., the creator of Final Fantasy, and ELECTRONIC ARTS, best known for its EA Sports titles -- have teamed up to develop and distribute entertainment titles in North America and in Japan via a pair of joint ventures. Here, they are forming SQUARE ELECTRONIC ARTS, LLC in Costa Mesa, California, in which SQUARE SOFT, INC. has a 70 percent interest and its San Mateo, California partner owns the balance. This firm will have exclusive North American publishing rights to all future interactive entertainment titles developed by Square. Scheduled for 1998 release are Parasite Eve, Xenogears, Bushido Blade 2 and Brave Fencer Musashiden. They will be marketed through EA's extensive sales network. In Japan, the two companies are establishing Tokyo-based ELECTRONIC ARTS SQUARE K.K., with the ownership the exact reverse of the California operation. It will localize and publish EA's titles originally created for the American and European markets as well as create and put out original video games.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
Worried about excess capacity, two groups planning to lay undersea fiber-optic cables across the Pacific have joined forces as the Japan-U.S. Cable Network. In essence, the consortium spearheaded by AT&T CORP. and KOKUSAI DENSHIN DENWA CO., LTD., which was going to build the TPC-6 cable network, has merged with a system backed by WORLDCOM INC. and JAPAN TELECOM CO., LTD. (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 343, April 1998, p. 6). In addition to these big international communications carriers, the 15 participants in the $1.1 billion project include NTT WORLDWIDE NETWORK CORP., GTE CORP., MCI COMMUNICATIONS CORP., SPRINT CORP. and Britain CABLE & WIRELESS PLC. The 13,000-mile, self-healing ring Japan-U.S. Cable Network, which will follow two routes in the northern and the southern Pacific, initially will operate at 80 gigabits per second -- the equivalent of 967,680 simultaneous calls. It will have the potential to be upgraded to 640 gigabit- per-second transmissions, or 7,741,440 concurrent calls. Likely landing points for the system include locations in Ibaraki, Chiba and Mie prefectures and in Hawaii and California. Virtually all the capacity already has been subscribed. Construction is scheduled to begin by yearend, with operations starting by midyear 2000.
One reason for the concerns about overcapacity despite surging transpacific demand for broadband capacity is the pending construction of the first privately owned and operated undersea fiber-optic cable network (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 342, March 1998, pp. 7-8). The backers of Pacific Crossing-1 -- KDD SUBMARINE CABLE SYSTEMS INC., MARUBENI CORP. and GLOBAL CROSSING LTD. -- have completed financing for the $1.2 million project. They lined up $800 million in bank financing to supplement $400 million in equity contributions. They also signed a contract with TYCO SUBMARINE SYSTEMS LTD. to act as prime contractor and with KDD-SCS to be the subcontractor. In addition, PC-1 has its first Japanese customer: DDI CORP., the nation's second-largest telephone company.
Through its KDD AMERICA, INC. unit (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 343, April 1998, p. 6), KOKUSAI DENSHIN DENWA CO., LTD. is in the process of launching both domestic and international telephone service for corporate and individual customers alike. For now at least, the company is leasing capacity from local carriers. KDD claims that its international call rates, especially to Japan, will undercut those charged by American competitors.
The tie-up between SONY CORP. and TV set-top box leader GENERAL INSTRUMENT CORP. (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 341, February 1998, p. 8) already has yielded its first cooperative product: an interactive digital in-house networked system that allows digital devices from different manufacturers to be seamlessly interconnected via a TV set. The prototype system combines the Chicago manufacturer's DCT 5000+ interactive digital set-top device and Sony's i.LINK-based Home Networking Module and Aperios real-time operating system. The i.LINK interface enables connected devices to send and receive digital commands and digital audio/visual streams at up to 200 megabits per second. Obvious uses for the system include monitoring via digital video cameras and accessing the Internet.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
Now in its tenth year of building Subaru cars and Isuzu sport-utility vehicles, SUBARU- ISUZU AUTOMOTIVE INC. finally is close to operating at capacity of 240,000 vehicles a year. One key to this change in fortunes is the start of Japan-bound exports of right- hand-drive versions of ISUZU MOTORS LTD.'s new four-door Rodeo, called the Wizard, and the redesigned two-door Amigo, which is sold as the Mu. Isuzu, which owns 51 percent of Lafayette, Indiana-based SIA versus the 49 percent share held by FUJI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD., the maker of the Subaru Legacy, expects to ship between 13,000 and 18,000 SUVs to Japan this year. The plant started building right- hand-drive vehicles in 1994 when it won a contract from the United States Postal Service for Legacys. With current production limits in sight, SIA officials are weighing an expansion in capacity to 260,000 units a year.
In a major endorsement of MITSUBISHI MOTORS CORP.'s gasoline direct-injection engine technology, CHRYSLER CORP. reportedly will use the fuel-efficient, emissions-reducing engines in the cars that MMC builds for it starting in the 2002 model year. GENERAL MOTORS CORP. also is talking to Mitsubishi Motors about using GDI engines. According to current plans, the Chrysler engines will be built at MITSUBISHI MOTORS MANUFACTURING OF AMERICA INC. in Normal, Illinois where MMC today assembles the Chrysler Sebring coupe and the Dodge Avenger. The GDI engines will replace Chrysler-made engines. Engines that MMC supplies directly to Chrysler, now 300,000 or so 3,000 cubic centimeter engines, gradually will be switched over to the GDI technology beginning in 2001. The new engines are 30 percent more fuel-efficient than conventional gasoline engines, and they cut carbon dioxide emissions by nearly one-third.
NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD. affiliate KANSEI CORP. tentatively has agreed with TRW INC. to set up an equally owned manufacturing facility in North America to supply air- bag and other automotive electronics to the number-two Japanese vehicle maker's plants in Smyrna, Tennessee and in Mexico. The $15 million plant is expected to be completed in 2000 and to be operational the following year, turning out $45 million worth of products annually. The prospective partners reportedly are thinking about factory sites near Nissan's Tennessee complex. TRW already is a leading supplier of air-bag electronics to Nissan, while from its Lewisburg, Tennessee plant Kansei ships instrument panels, other molded plastic products, instrument clusters and additional parts to the Smyrna complex.
Before the end of 1998, KOYO SEIKO CO., LTD. -- Japan's top manufacturer of power steering systems as well as one of its top three producers of bearings -- expects to decide on a site somewhere in the Ohio-Tennessee section of "automotive alley" for a plant to make its newly developed electric power steering systems and hydraulic electric power steering systems. Koyo Seiko believes that the Big Three U.S. automotive builders will adopt this equipment after 2000. Factory construction now is scheduled to begin sometime in 1999. Through TRW KOYO STEERING SYSTEMS CO., a Vonore, Tennessee joint venture with TRW INC. (51 percent), the company supplies components for power steering systems to transplant producers.
A year after production started, the grand opening finally was held at DIAMOND ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING CORP.'s ignition coil plant in Eleanor, West Virginia. The factory, which employs more than 100 people, has the capacity to make 250,000 units a month for such customers as CHRYSLER CORP. and TOYOTA MOTOR CORP.'s North American operations. The celebration coincided with the inauguration of additional capacity at DIAMOND ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.'s original plant in Dundee, Michigan. It now is equipped to turn out monthly 400,000 ignition coils. The work force numbers 120.
Through an investment of $6.8 million, PRESS KOGYO CO., LTD., Japan's top supplier of stamped metal parts for cars and trucks, has launched its second U.S. manufacturing subsidiary. Like PK U.S.A., INC., which has been in operation since 1990, BLUE RIVER STAMPING, INC. is located in Shelbyville, Indiana. Its 80 employees turn out pedals and other small stamped metal parts and subassemblies. The plant has a 300-ton press, a 200-ton press with a coil feeder, eight regular 200-ton presses, a 110-ton press and 16 projection welders. Blue River Stamping is projecting 1998 sales of $7 million. Directly or indirectly, Press Kogyo owns 95 percent of the company; the rest of the capital was put up by a MITSUI & CO., LTD. affiliate.
Stronger than expected demand for steel cord from BRIDGESTONE/FIRESTONE, INC. tire plants has prompted BRIDGESTONE METALPHA CORP. to revise future production requirements for its Clarksville, Tennessee plant. The BRIDGESTONE CORP. affiliate originally planned to have the capacity to make 30,000 tons of steel cord in 2001 versus its current annual capacity of 17,000 tons. Now, it will boost 2001 capacity to 47,000 tons through the investment of an additional $65 million. That will raise total plant spending to $195 million. With the higher projected output, employment will increase to 340 people from roughly 280 at present.
By early next year, all ISHIKAWA GASKET CO., LTD. engine gaskets sold in North America will come from its Bowling Green, Ohio plant. Capacity will be expanded from 700,000 units a year to 2.3 million through the addition of nine manufacturing lines. Staffing, now at 110, will increase as a result of the extra capacity. About half of ISHIKAWA GASKET AMERICA, INC.'s output goes to FORD MOTOR CO. The U.S. expansion is central to plans by Japan's top manufacturer of gaskets to double offshore sales to $55.6 million by FY 2001.
Additional orders in hand from the Big Three U.S. automotive makers, NORTH AMERICAN LIGHTING, INC., an affiliate of KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD., is projecting FY 1998 sales of more than $296.3 million from $259.3 million in the year through March 1997. The lighting equipment supplier, which has plants in Flora and Salem, Illinois, expects to fill the new contracts by boosting productivity rather than investing in more capacity.
With sales of pickup trucks in its dominant export market, Southeast Asia, in a tailspin, NISSAN DIESEL CO., LTD. plans to resume shipments to the United States this year. The truck maker stopped selling pickups here in 1994, concentrating instead on its Class 4 to Class 6 vehicles, or trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 14,000 pounds to 26,000 pounds. Its 1997 sales totaled 2,163 units. Nissan Diesel has not yet decided how many pickups it will export to this country.
KAWASAKI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD. will help its U.S. rail car assembly operation meet early 1999 delivery dates for 200 double-decker rail cars ordered in 1995 by New York's Long Island Rail Road and by the Maryland Department of Transportation. Design modifications put Yonkers, New York KAWASAKI RAIL CAR, INC. behind schedule by delaying the start of procurement. The changes also drove up production costs. To help out, KHI will build more subassemblies than it originally planned. Among other contracts that Kawasaki Rail Car has pending is its biggest ever, a $540 million order for subway cars from New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 336, September 1997, p. 9).
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
F-2 fighter aircraft prime contractor MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD. has tapped the Sanders unit of LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP. to provide its next-generation mission planning systems. The MPS III systems, which are similar to the Air Force Mission Support Systems that Nashua, New Hampshire Sanders is building for the U.S. Air Force, help flight crews with such premission functions as flight, route and weapons delivery planning as well as with post-flight analysis and debriefing. Three MPS III systems will be delivered to MHI beginning in February 1999. Each will comprise a Unix-based workstation, the latest commercial off-the-shelf hardware and 16-inch flat panel displays. Sanders personnel will provide training and support the conversion of the user interface to accept and display characters in Japanese.
Via ITOCHU CORP.'s aviation sales subsidiary in El Segundo, California, RAYTHEON CO. was awarded a $49 million contract to install weapons systems on two of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's destroyers. The four Phalanx close-in weapon systems, a computer-controlled gun system that destroys ship-bound threats, are scheduled to be in place by November 2000. This contract represents the first time the Japan Defense Agency has acquired the Phalanx system directly from Raytheon. Previous orders were handled through the U.S. government's Foreign Military Sales program.
Japan's top manufacturer of ceramic tile is setting up shop in Atlanta. Nagoya-based NICHIHA CORP. will provide 60 percent of the capital for its first offshore subsidiary, with SUMITOMO CORP. supplying the rest. No specific date has been set for the launch of sales since the new company first must complete its market research. In 2000, however, Nichiha is projecting revenues of $10 million. Its U.S. product line will include roofing materials as well as ceramic tile.
Having completed a U.S. market feasibility study, KOKUYO CO., LTD., first in Japan in the production of stationery and also strong in office furniture and equipment, has elevated its Schaumburg, Illinois organization from a liaison office to a subsidiary. The office was opened in September 1997. The full-fledged unit now is investigating marketing channels for stationery and other paper products.
Sagging revenues and profits forced the sale of commercial printer CALSONIC MIURA GRAPHICS, INC. to an unnamed American company for $11 million. CALSONIC CORP., one of NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.'s biggest parts supplier, and MIURA PRINTING CORP. formed the Irvine, California company in 1991 in the belief that the business could thrive by printing advertisements for Nissan vehicles. Stumbling Nissan sales in the United States thwarted that strategy.
Analysts are predicting that one of this year's Christmas crazes for children will be products based on Pocket Monsters characters, the Americanized version of the good and evil pocket monsters in Japan's wildly popular Pokemon animated TV show. Pokemon creator NINTENDO CO., LTD. has awarded big toy maker HASBRO, INC. a master license for the right to sell in the United States and in other countries outside Asia a line of games, action figures, stuffed animals, plastic balls and other toys based on the 150-odd Pokemon characters. Backed by a reportedly big promotional campaign, the Pawtucket, Rhode Island company will launch U.S. sales of Pocket Monsters products in the fourth quarter.
The technical assistance agreement between WALGREEN CO., the biggest operator of drugstores in the United States, and RX NETWORK INC., an ITOCHU CORP.-led group that is setting up a chain of pharmacies (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 333, June 1997, p. 13), has turned out to be a two-way arrangement. RX Network will help the Deerfield, Illinois-headquartered company implement the ISDN (integrated services digital network) that is its key to managing information on customers' prescriptions and their medical history. Through ISDN lines and satellite links, the system links a central computer with terminals located in pharmacies. RX Network will provide technical assistance to Walgreen for up to three years, during which time the drugstore operator will tailor the system to its own requirements.
To quickly implement the rights it gained in the January U.S.-Japan aviation agreement, NIPPON CARGO AIRLINES CO., LTD. has made separate arrangements with UNITED PARCEL SERVICE OF AMERICA INC. and NWA INC., the parent of Northwest Airlines, to operate joint transpacific cargo flights. At the start, NCA will use UPS planes on the Narita/Chicago and Osaka/Chicago routes while also sharing space with Northwest on flights between Osaka and Chicago.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
In its first deal covering a new drug for a connective tissue disease, CONNECTICS CORP. signed a development, commercialization and supply agreement with SUNTORY LTD.'s pharmaceutical division for ConXn (recombinant human relaxin-H2) for the treatment of scleroderma. The Japanese company will pay the Palo Alto, California developer approximately $14 million in license fees and milestone payments. It will be responsible for all development and commercialization expenses in Japan. Royalties on sales of ConXn in Japan for the treatment of scleroderma, which results from the excessive production of collagen, also will be owed. In addition, Suntory will buy relaxin materials from Connectics. Relaxin is a natural protein that inhibits excessive connective tissue buildup by decreasing collagen production and enhancing collagen breakdown.
Phase III clinical trials are underway on a treatment for chronic hepatitis B developed by SCICLONE PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. Under a five-year-old agreement revised in late 1996, SCHERING PLOUGH CORP.'s subsidiary is the San Mateo, California firm's exclusive Japan development and marketing partner for ZADAXIN thymosin alpha 1. The hepatitis B virus is quite prevalent in Japan. ZADAXIN works by stimulating the immune system.
IMMULOGIC PHARMACEUTICAL CORP. gave SANKYO CO., LTD. a license to certain patents for recombinant proteins and peptides for the treatment of allergic reactions to Japanese cedar pollen. In return, the Waltham, Massachusetts biopharmaceutical company will receive a licensing fee, milestone payments and royalties on sales.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
Data warehousing has spread from big financial institutions to Japan's shinkin (credit associations or credit unions). Two Kanagawa prefecture shinkin, one based in Kawasaki and the other in Tachikawa, are the first in their business to install the systems. Both were built by COMPAQ COMPUTER CORP.'s subsidiary. A fault- tolerant, high-availability, scalable NonStop Himalaya S7000 server, a product of Compaq-owned TANDEM COMPUTERS, INC., is at the core of each DWH system.
Since January, BANK OF YOKOHAMA, LTD. has been using a computer system codeveloped with NCR CORP.'s subsidiary that allows Japan's top regional bank to offer banking by telephone while at the same time enabling it to develop new financial products and services for customers based on an analysis of their transactions. Now, the partners are marketing the Call Center system, which costs between $2.2 million and $3.7 million to construct, to other regional banks. They hope to sell 10 systems by the end of the year, capitalizing on the need for banks to adapt in an era of financial deregulation. The NCR affiliate handles the Call Center's hardware side; Bank of Yokohama developed the operating software.
To cut costs in today's more competitive financial environment, some regional banks are starting to share computer systems. IBM JAPAN LTD. wants to help these financial institutions build their joint systems and then to operate them through its IBM GLOBAL SERVICES JAPAN SOLUTION AND SERVICES CO., LTD. This company brings unique credentials to the job since it has on staff a large number of banking system specialists previously employed by a computer affiliate of failed HOKKAIDO TAKUSHOKU BANK, LTD. (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 344, May 1998, p. 11). Initiatives like this are one way IBM Japan hopes to build its outsourcing business into a $740.7 million operation in 2000 from $74.1 million-plus a year now.
IBM JAPAN LTD. is exploring ways to boost sales of servers and PCs to corporate customers in a no-growth market. For starters, it has revamped its relationship with CANON SALES CO., INC., which handles through its roughly 6,000 outlets approximately 20 percent of the nearly 1 million PCs IBM Japan sells annually. About 100 Canon Sales shops have been designated server specialists, with in-house personnel backstopped by technical and sales support staff dispatched by IBM Japan. The company also reportedly is thinking about selling home PCs directly to some big retailers, cutting out middlemen and passing that savings on to buyers.
The 10,000 or so members of Club IBM are being given the chance to bid via IBM JAPAN LTD.'s home page on unsold inventory put up for auction. At the first auction, people were able to buy new Aptiva home computers and ThinkPad notebook computers for about half of the retail price. IBM Japan plans to run three auctions a month for Club IBM members, both to reward them for their loyalty and also to recoup at least some money on products that did not live up to sales forecasts.
The fifth generation of INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP.'s S/390 enterprise-class server, first introduced in 1994, has been released to world markets. Based on CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) technology, the S/390 G5 performs more than 900 million instructions per second when configured with 10 microprocessors. That is as much as double the performance of S/390 G4 servers. The 16 models in the series also offer expanded memory, balanced system design and increased I/O bandwidth to facilitate customers' connections to enterprise networks while increasing data access. Web serving is one marketing focus for the S/390 G5 since the system enables Internet service providers to handle approximately 800 million hits a day. Volume shipments will start in August. IBM JAPAN LTD. has priced the monthly lease for a 10-processor model from $70,000.
Upping the bar in the high-performance computing field, SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC.'s subsidiary is offering all Sun HPC 3000 through Sun HPC 10000 (Starfire) servers with its 336-MHz UltraSPARC II processor. This chip, the company claims, gives customers in compute-intensive, technical computing environments the industry's fastest, most cost-effective general-purpose HPC system. All the Unix machines, including the 64-processor Sun HPC 10000, use the Solaris operating system and run Sun's HPC 2.0 software, which enables both the development and the execution of serial and parallel high-performance applications.
Also bolstering its position in the mainstream Unix server market, the local operation of SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. introduced four models in the Sun Enterprise X500 Series for compute- and I/O-intensive data base, decision support and business applications. They, too, use UltraSPARC II processors. Pricing runs from $136,400 for the Sun Enterprise 5500 model to $291,300 for the high-end Sun Enterprise MBC- S950.
DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP.'s Japan unit also has strengthened its midrange server lineup with a pair of DIGITAL AlphaServers built around a superfast 600-MHz Alpha chip, a 64-bit RISC (reduced instruction-set computing) processor. The DIGITAL AlphaServer 4000 5/600, which can be equipped with two processors, is designed for users running scientific and commercial applications that require high performance and a large number (16) of PCI (peripheral component interconnect) I/O slots. The DIGITAL AlphaServer 4100 5/600, with up to four processors, is performance-driven, providing not just a faster processor but also faster memory and more and faster cache. DEC's subsidiary is projecting sales of 1,000 units for the two systems, which are priced, respectively, at $105,000 and $111,000.
The IBM Netfinity family of servers from INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. has been expanded with the addition of the entry-level, $3,000 Netfinity 3000 for file/print and applications computing and the Netfinity 5500. The latter machine, which comes standard with a 350-MHz or a 400-MHz Pentium II processor, is a high- availability, midrange server designed to handle complex network system demand.
In its own words, SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. is "cranking up the heat" on the competition in the high-end Unix workstation market by introducing a higher- performance version of the recently released Ultra 60. The new machine is powered by one or two 360-MHz UltraSPARC processors in place of the original 300-MHz engine, each of which has 4 megabytes of cache and 1.9 gigabytes of system throughput. Sun's subsidiary has priced the single-processor model at $31,400, while the dual-processor version goes for $43,600.
With the addition of three models to its TDZ 2000 ViZual Workstation product line, INTERGRAPH CORP. no doubt would say that it is cranking up the heat in the market for Windows NT three-dimensional workstations. At the high end, the new TDZ 2000 GT1, which utilizes a single or dual 400-MHz and higher Pentium II processors, delivers an I/O bandwidth of nearly 1 gigabit per second and a record peak memory bandwidth of 1.6 gigabit per second. Targeted at technical and creative professionals, it starts at $12,900. At the low end, the TDZ 2000 GL1 offers workstation-level performance for prices as low as $4,600. It is powered by one or two 266-MHz, 300- MHz or 333-MHz Pentium II processors. In between is the TDZ 2000 GL2. It, too, incorporates one or two 400-MHz Pentium IIs with INTEL CORP.'s new 440BX support chipset. That part performs various system tasks in concert with the main processor, delivering up to a 30 percent performance improvement running data-intensive applications compared with older-generation Pentium systems.
The DIGITAL Creation Studio 333i+ from DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP.'s subsidiary is targeted at the same group of price-sensitive professionals working in a Windows NT Workstation 4.0 environment. The $5,500 machine runs off a 333-MHz Pentium II processor with MMX technology and incorporates a 440LX chipset. At the same time, DEC scheduled a July release for the DIGITAL Creation Studio 3D 500a, which uses the company's own 500-MHz Alpha processor but also runs Windows NT Workstation 4.0.
DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP. also strengthened its high-end Windows NT server lineup with the release of the DIGITAL Server 7105/7105R, which can handle as many as four 200-MHz Pentium Pro processors. They are designed for mail and messaging, Internet/intranet and electronic commerce applications. A pedestal-based 7105 with a pair of processors starts at $28,100, while a rack-mounted 7105R using a single processor costs $21,300.
Companies looking for an affordable departmental or branch office server for Internet/intranet, file/print and data base applications are the target customers for COMPAQ COMPUTER CORP.'s ProLiant 3000. It brings to the job one or two 333-MHz Pentium II processors, plus a system memory that can be expanded to 3 gigabytes. The base configuration of the ProLiant 3000 is $9,300.
The first INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. commercial desktop PC incorporating INTEL CORP.'s BX core chipset is available in Japan. The PC 300PL also is the first PC to feature IBM Asset ID, a new deployment, inventory and security system based on radio-frequency technology, and IBM Alert on LAN, a manageability technology. The PC 300PL works off a 350-MHz or a 400-MHz Pentium II processor. Pentium II chips running at these clock speeds also are available for the first time in the PC 300GL. .....Similar hardware is available from the subsidiary of Nampa, Idaho- based MICRON ELECTRONICS, INC. The minitower ClientPro incorporates either a 350-MHz or a 400-MHz Pentium II as well as the bandwidth-enhancing 440BX chipset. Manageability is provided by INTEL CORP.'s PRO/100 with the Wake on LAN Network Interface and its LANDesk Client Manager software. ClientPro pricing starts at $2,200.
UNISYS CORP.'s subsidiary is shipping the first corporate desktop PC with a built-in DVD-RAM (digital video disc-random access memory) drive. The Windows NT Aquanta DLX features a 300-MHz Pentium II processor. It goes for about $4,200.
Corporate desktop PCs built around INTEL CORP.'s low-cost Celeron processor are trickling onto the market. For instance, COMPAQ COMPUTER CORP.'s local unit is selling the Deskpro EP6266C/3.21/CDS15, which features a 266-MHz version of the processor as well as the 440BX chipset. Pricing begins at $1,200.
In the latest revamp of its Aptiva home PC family, IBM JAPAN LTD. released the industry's first system based on a 300-MHz K6 processor from ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC. The $1,900-and-up price of the 57V brings affordability to the Aptiva E line's of performance and expandability. IBM Japan also added a pair of Pentium II- based models to the Aptiva E series, the 58 (a 266-MHz processor) and the 48 (a 300- MHz chip).
Also refreshing its ThinkPad family of notebook computers, IBM JAPAN LTD. introduced three lines equipped with the latest mobile Pentium II processor. The ThinkPad 770 redefines the high end. Equipped with a 266-MHz processor, it features a 14.1-inch active-matrix LCD display with a resolution of 1024x768 and 8.1 gigabytes of storage standard. In the middle is the ThinkPad 600, which strikes a balance between performance and portability in the form of a system weighing less than 5 pounds and measuring just 1.4 inches thick. At the entry level is the ThinkPad 380 sporting an integrated diskette, CD-ROM and hard disk drive and a 12.1-inch display. The new models start off at anywhere from $4,400 to $7,000.
The performance-enhancing PowerPC G3 processor has given a boost to sales of APPLE COMPUTER INC. products in Japan as well as in the United States. To keep that momentum going, its subsidiary unveiled the top-of-the-line Power Macintosh G3 MT300 desktop system. At its heart is a 300-MHz implementation of the processor. Pricing is open, but the MT300 is likely to go for $3,000 or so. .....APPLE COMPUTER INC.'s local operation also is marketing four versions of the sleek Macintosh PowerBook G3 notebook computer. The firm is touting not just their performance but also their advanced multimedia capabilities and their integrated communications. Estimated street prices start at $1,500.
Point-of-sale terminals are becoming more sophisticated, as proved by the 4614 SureOne POS Terminal from IBM JAPAN LTD. It is a PC as well as a cash register, running off-the-shelf and custom applications. SureOne compactly packages together the PC, keyboard, credit-card reader, receipt printer and monitor. Eight communications ports also allow the addition of such options as scanners and check readers. A system with no receipt printer costs $3,100. A model equipped with an impact printer costs $3,700, while one with a thermal printer lists for $3,900.
In July, NCR CORP.'s subsidiary will start shipping a Windows NT-based cash dispenser. A primary selling point of the PersonaS 70 is the machine's potential for marketing and merchandising since a bank can have the $20,700 system customized in both appearance and function. Over the next three years, NCR's local unit expect to sell 6,000 PersonaS 70 machines.
The concept of storage area networking -- a highly scalable, managed server-storage infrastructure -- is starting to gain ground in Japan, enough so that GADZOOX NETWORKS, INC. has moved into the market. The self-described leader in Fibre Channel SAN solutions has tapped ITOCHU ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. and TOKYO ELECTRON LTD. to resell its entire line to OEMs and resellers. The San Jose, California company's products include the Gibraltar family of managed hubs, the Denali area switch and the Ventana SAN management architecture.
Fibre Channel connectivity to the host is available with the DIGITAL StorageWorks Fibre Channel RAID Array 7000 departmental storage system from DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP.'s subsidiary. A fully integrated Ultra SCSI (small computer system interface) RAID (redundant array of independent disks) subsystem, it ensures continuous access to critical applications and data residing on all the popular computing platforms. The RAID Array 7000 houses 24 slots for UltraSCSI disk drives in a cabinet, providing 218 gigabytes of capacity if DEC's 9-GB UltraSCSI drives are used or 432 GB if 18-GB drives are deployed. Moreover, storage can be expanded to one or two additional cabinets supporting 48 or 72 disks. The base configuration of the RAID Array 7000 is $92,600.
COMPAQ COMPUTER CORP.'s marketing organization also is pushing Fibre Channel storage solutions for integrating data base and Web servers to server clusters. Its Fibre Channel Storage Hub 7 connects up to 873.6 GB of storage into a single server slot and packs as much as 1.4 terabytes into a rack. Like the RAID Array 7000, it has a data throughput of 100 MB per second so that bottlenecks at the host-to-storage interface are eliminated. The server-side board costs around $3,000.
The Fireball EL family of 3.5-inch hard disk drives for commercial and high-end desktop PCs is shipping. The latest additions to QUANTUM CORP.'s Fireball line of magnetoresistive-based drives offer capacities of 2.5 GB, 5.1 GB, 7.6 GB and 10.2 GB. Data throughput has been expanded with the use of new firmware and a 512-kilobyte buffer. In addition, the drives incorporate a shock protection system to protect against the impact of mishandling during shipping or integration into a PC. The Milpitas, California company's subsidiary has priced the four Fireball EL models between $200 and $420.
San Jose, California-based TERASTOR CORP., the originator of the Near Field Recording disk drive, has added YAMAHA CORP. as a development and manufacturing partner. It previously lined up HITACHI MAXELL, LTD. and TOSOH CORP. to make magneto-optical media for its ultra-high-capacity, high-performance random access storage products (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 341, February 1998, p. 13). Like those companies, Yamaha will supply all the disks it makes to TeraStor. NFR drives are scheduled to reach the market this year.
Roughly $2,000 will buy APPLE COMPUTER INC.'s stylish Apple Studio Display. The 15.1-inch flat-panel design takes up just a fraction of the desk space of a CRT monitor. Moreover, the Apple Studio Display's TFT AMLCD technology provides significantly improved brightness, contrast and sharpness compared with traditional displays. Apple also incorporated a number of "smart" features in the monitor as well as a software-based tool that allows users to customize their viewing experience.
As part of a worldwide launch, HEWLETT-PACKARD JAPAN LTD. introduced the HP LaserJet 8000 family of departmental printers. This replacement for the HP LaserJet 5Si Series printers completes for now HEWLETT-PACKARD CO.'s overhaul of its laser printer line. Powered by a 133-MHz processor and incorporating 16 MB of base memory, the LaserJet 8000 prints 24 pages per minute. It offers simple network peripheral management and the capability to print multiple original prints of a document. The base model of the LaserJet 8000 lists for about $3,200, including two 500-sheet trays and a 100-sheet multipurpose tray. The network model costs $3,500 or so.
Backing up its move into the market for large-format printers for graphics professionals, HEWLETT-PACKARD JAPAN LTD. introduced the HP DesignJet 3000CP and the HP DesignJet 3500CP. The former, priced at $18,400, can accommodate media widths up to 36 inches, while the latter, which costs $21,400, can handle 54-inch-wide sheets. Both models make photo-quality color images up to 150-feet long, with a resolution of 600 dots per inch and automatic color calibration. PostScript drivers for both Windows and Macintosh are included.
In its latest development contract with a Japanese printer manufacturer, ELECTRONICS FOR IMAGING, INC. is working with FUJI XEROX CO., LTD. to bring high-quality digital color printing to the desktop. The first product to incorporate the San Mateo, California firm's Fiery X2e embedded color controller already has been announced. The FX Color Laser Wind 3320PS prints four pages per minute in color at 600 dots per inch and 16 ppm in black and white. It features ADOBE SYSTEMS, INC.'s PostScript 3 and can handle 12x18-inch paper for full-bleed color proofing.
RAINBOW TECHNOLOGIES, INC. of Irvine, California has given INTRANET SYSTEMS, INC. the right to distribute its CryptoSwift accelerator board, which contains a proprietary cryptographic coprocessor that off-loads and speeds up the operations of a server's main central processing unit. The $2,200 product will be marketed to Web server operators that are having trouble providing secure Internet transactions during peak-load times. CryptoSwift is said to improve a server's response time by 50 percent while increasing secure server capacity to process up to 10 times more clients. The Tokyo distributor expects to sell 500 boards in the first year of marketing.
In October, VERIFONE, INC.'s subsidiary will introduce a localized version of the VeriFone Personal ATM appliance. The Redwood City, California company's device initially is expected to be used to allow customers to load electronic cash onto their smart cards at home. However, the VeriSmart client-server software allows the product to be used for a variety of other applications, including Internet commerce transactions. The VeriSmart server can reside at banks, utilities, phone companies or anywhere smart-card solutions are deployed. Moreover, it works with a variety of smart-card schemes.
Switching from OEM sales, SANDISK CORP.'s Yokohama subsidiary is directly marketing the ImageMate. This CompactFlash card reader allows consumers to easily and quickly download images from a digital camera to a desktop PC using removable CompactFlash memory cards. About 25 digital cameras have been introduced over the last year or so that have a built-in slot for CompactFlash film cards in capacities of 4 megabytes to 48 megabytes. ImageMate has a suggested retail price of $75.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
The problems in Japan's real estate market have given time-share operator SUNTERRA CORP. an inexpensive way to move into the market. The new Tokyo subsidiary of the former Signature Resorts Inc. bought what was an employee training facility in Katsuyama, Yamanashi prefecture after the previous owner defaulted on the property. It then turned the facility near Lake Kawaguchi into a time-share resort. It paid less than one-fifth what the facility cost to build six years ago. San Mateo, California- based Sunterra plans to spend roughly $74.1 million to acquire as many as 10 other resort-like facilities in popular travel destinations around Japan. Sunterra Resort Kawaguchiko is the company's 84th property. The others are located in Europe and the United States.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
With deregulation introducing more competition into Japan's financial services market, Japanese banks are scrambling to gain the necessary expertise to offer new products and services. That search for help is producing business for American companies. For instance, the local office of big accounting firm KPMG PEAT MARWICK LLP is advising TOKAI BANK, LTD. on the mechanics of private banking, including diversified asset management and risk avoidance. The Nagoya-headquartered midsized nationwide commercial bank plans to offer asset management services to individuals with more than $740,700 in financial assets or $370,400 in annual income, signing up 10,000 well-heeled customers through its branches.
With the government now expected to lift the ban on the sale of investment trusts -- Japanese-style mutual funds -- by banks by yearend, help with introducing or developing these products is much in demand. Under an agreement with FIDELITY INVESTMENTS JAPAN LTD., the Tokyo subsidiary of the world's largest mutual fund manager, ASAHI BANK, LTD. will sell Fidelity mutual funds starting in December. The products will be available initially at 20 to 30 Tokyo-area branches of the midranking nationwide commercial bank. The deal includes training salespeople and providing assistance with customer support services. Fidelity Investments Japan also gained the immediate right to sell its products at five Asahi Bank retail locations in the Tokyo metropolitan region.
For its part, investment banker GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO. has a pending agreement to help FUJI BANK, LTD. develop investment trust products for sale at its branches beginning in December and, possibly, at a number of regional banks. The funds, to be managed by FUJI INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CO., LTD., will invest in international stocks and bonds. .....GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO. also reportedly will develop for YASUDA TRUST & BANKING CO., LTD. a dollar-denominated money market-type fund for individual investors that could go on sale as soon as this fall. The investment bank will manage the fund, with the principal guaranteed in dollars by CHASE MANHATTAN CORP.
A yen-denominated commodity-type fund for individual investors also is in the works via a tie-up between CITIBANK N.A. and SHIZUOKA BANK, LTD., one of the larger regional banks. About 30 U.S. investment management companies selected by Citibank will invest the money in oil, precious metals, agricultural crops and other commodities. Investors will have to put up a minimum of $37,000 for the seven-year fund. Citibank will guarantee the principal if the fund is held until maturity. The partners hope to attract $37 million in investments. The fund will be sold at Shizuoka Bank branches. It also is expected to be available through other banks.
New York City's FINANCIAL SECURITY ASSURANCE CO. has teamed up with TOKIO MARINE & FIRE INSURANCE CO., LTD. to provide guarantees for asset-backed securities issued by Japanese companies with high credit ratings. The country's top nonlife insurer will cover securities offered domestically, while FSA will do the same for Euromarket issues. As part of the arrangement, FSA will provide expertise on financial guarantees, its main business, to Tokio Marine, which will be in charge of handling negotiations with issuers of asset-backed securities.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
What is described as the first service in the world to certify that foods have not been genetically engineered was to be launched in June by trader KANEMATSU CORP. with program management supplied by the local office of FARM VERIFIED ORGANIC, INC. The Medina, North Dakota-headquartered company certifies foods as organic (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 338, November 1997, p. 15). The new service initially will cover only products made from soybeans and corn. American subcontractors actually will check food samples to determine if the products have been genetically altered or contain genetically engineered ingredients.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
Moving beyond its concept shop program, active outdoor apparel manufacturer COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR CO. opened a retail outlet in Nagoya. The 1,200-square- foot store features a range of Columbia apparel and footwear for the entire family. The Portland, Oregon company, the leading seller of skiwear in the United States and one of the world's largest makers of outerwear, established a subsidiary in Tokyo last fall. Its merchandise has been available in Japan since 1975 (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 338, November 1997, p. 24). Columbia Sportswear currently has nine in- country concept shops.
A recently formed subsidiary will be in charge of the retail expansion of TULLY'S COFFEE CORP. in Japan. The Seattle specialty coffee company opened its first local outlet in Tokyo in August 1997 (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 336, September 1997, p. 14). Tully's subsidiary -- in which DANKEN'S GOURMET ICE CREAM CO., also headquartered in Seattle, is a partner along with a venture capital fund run by MITSUI & CO., LTD. and two other investors -- plans to open 10 stores by yearend and another 30 in 1999.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
Market newcomer UNIVERSAL LASER SYSTEMS INC. has named NAKAZAWA CO., LTD. to distribute its computer-controlled, carbon dioxide laser engraving, marking and cutting systems. The Scottsdale, Arizona manufacturer's two families of products offer a choice of 15, 20, 25 or 30 watts of power (M Class) or 25, 50 or 100 watts (X Class). All the machines incorporate the company's patented advanced laser processing system technology. The Tokyo distributor has priced the equipment from $20,700 to $66,700. It expects to sell 200 units of the various models.
A fellow Arizona company that makes precision glass scribing and breaking equipment for the microelectronics industry also has moved into the market. Phoenix- headquartered VILLA PRECISION INTERNATIONAL selected Aichi prefecture-based MECS CORP. to represent it in marketing customized equipment to manufacturers of liquid crystal displays. VPI's various CNC (computer numerically controlled), multihead precision glass scribers for the LCD industry incorporate the company's FAST (flying adjustable scribing technique) technology. Its high-end models can handle a maximum of six scribe heads and a 50-inch substrate. Those products are expected to be introduced later this year. For now, MECS is marketing machines with three scribe heads. It also is selling a semiautomatic, high-speed, computer-controlled breaker system engineered to work in unison with VPI's glass scribers. The two companies are projecting first-year sales of $3 million.
The subsidiary of CREST ULTRASONICS CORP., the leading manufacturer of ultrasonic cleaning systems, has contracted with UC JAPAN CO., LTD. to market its Trenton, New Jersey parent's equipment. The Yokohama firm is handling disk drive cleaning systems, touting the effectiveness of their 68-kilohertz cleaning frequency. It also carries a variety of other ultrasonic cleaners for cleaning metals. These products will be targeted at automotive and aircraft parts producers. In total, Crest anticipates sales of 200 systems a year.
Although best known as the world's top supplier of industrial gases, especially carbon dioxide and helium, PRAXAIR, INC. also makes equipment to apply wear-resistant coatings to equipment and components. The Danbury, Connecticut company's subsidiary is marketing one such very-high-speed coating system, the HVAF-JetStar, through KOKEN TECHNO CO., LTD. of Sakai, Osaka prefecture.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
Continuing its recent rapid rollout of new products for both the industrial and the consumer market, EASTMAN KODAK CO.'s subsidiary introduced three versions of the MEGAPLUS Camera Model ES 1.0. Designed for medical imaging and other applications requiring real-time image capture, the system produces 30 digital images per second with a resolution of more than 1 million pixels via a progressive-scan CCD (charge-coupled device) sensor and an integrated electronic shutter. The pricing of the ES 1.0 ranges from $18,800 to $25,600. .....In a complementary move, the local operation of EASTMAN KODAK CO. released the MEGAPLUS Camera Model 1.6i/TEC for industrial uses. Also equipped with an integrated CCD sensor/electronic shutter, it captures 5.5 images per second with a resolution close to 1.6 million pixels. The Model 1.6i/TEC costs from $15,600 to $18,200.
On the photofinishing side, the EASTMAN KODAK CO. affiliate has on the market the Kodak 2000 System Plus for handling large volumes of film. A distinctive feature of this machine is the ability of the operator to program it for three processing cycles of 5 minutes to 12 minutes, thereby providing optimum processing conditions for three groups of materials or applications. Also new is the $3,700 Kodak Professional CMS Mixer Multi Mini, a just-in-time unit that automatically prepares developer and fixer solutions as the film processing system requires further supplies.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
High costs forced MEDTRONIC, INC. to end production of implantable cardiac pacemakers at its plant in Chitose on the northern island of Hokkaido. That output, equivalent to annual sales of $51.9 million to $59.3 million, was transferred to the Minneapolis company's plants in Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United States. The fact that its subsidiary had to import about half of all parts going into the pacemakers was the primary reason onshore production was not profitable. Medtronic, which controls roughly 35 percent of Japan's pacemaker market, now is importing products from Europe and the United States. The Chitose facility continues to assemble equipment that functions as a heart-lung machine during open-heart surgery (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 335, August 1997, p. 14). It also will be used for new product development and as a pacemaker training center.
Through SHIMADZU CORP., the nuclear medicine division of PICKER INTERNATIONAL, INC. introduced IRIX, the industry's first large field-of-view, variable- angle, triple-detector gamma camera, and a new version of AXIS, a dual-detector, variable-angle camera. Both incorporate the Cleveland firm's variable tangential technology, billed as a breakthrough in patient contouring for nuclear medicine procedures. The IRIX system, priced at $2.2 million, can do everything from whole body and planar imaging to imaging for cardiology and oncology diagnoses. The $16,800 AXIS is said to be the first variable-angle, dual-detector camera that is upgradable to a triple-detector system.
Rival GE Medical Systems of Waukesha, Wisconsin, part of GENERAL ELECTRIC CO., released three additions to its HiSpeed computed tomography product line designed for hospitals and other diagnostic imaging facilities that cannot afford its premium scanner. The two machines spanning the middle price points -- the HiSpeed FX/i ($3 million) and the HiSpeed LX/i ($3.3 million) -- are available in Japan through GE- YOKOGAWA MEDICAL SYSTEMS, LTD. These CT systems are built around SILICON GRAPHICS, INC.'s line of high-end graphics workstations. Like the other members of the series, they come with software that automatically completes all tasks required during an exam, including multiple reconstructions, multiple films, archiving and network transfers.
BIOLASE TECHNOLOGY, INC., a San Clemente, California manufacturer of laser- based products for the medical profession and dentists, signed an exclusive distribution agreement with MEDITEC CORP., a wholly owned MARUBENI CORP. company. The three-year, $10.7 million minimum purchase deal covers the Millennium for dentistry and the DermaLase for such medical applications as tumor and cyst removal and wrinkle removal. Both systems incorporate Biolase's HydroKinetic technology, which combines the power of a laser with water to form high-speed, atomized water particles that act as the cutting tool in place of thermal heat. The agreement goes into effect once the Ministry of Health and Welfare clears the products for sale. That approval is expected during FY 1999.
MHW approved for marketing VISX, INC.'s excimer laser system for phototherapeutic keratectomy, a procedure to treat corneal scars and dystrophies of the eye. The Santa Clara, California company is the first U.S. manufacturer to win such approval, although testing started in early 1993. Its subsidiary will distribute and service the system. Japan is the world's second-largest market for laser vision correction.
COM-POWER CORP. has awarded ORIX LENTECH CORP. sole rights to market its Near Field System, which enables engineers to locate the source of electromagnetic interference at the system level. That identification means that noise can be suppressed at the source, a more effective and less expensive way of lowering emissions than the commonly employed techniques of shielding and filtering. The Lake Forest, California company's NF-110 system, which costs $14,500, consists of a near field probe set, a preamplifier and a portable spectrum analyzer.
A nonincineration method for handling hazardous and nonhazardous wastes will be commercially available in Japan next year. STARTECH ENVIRONMENTAL CORP. of Wilton, Connecticut has contracted with ENVIPAC PARTNERS, INC. to sell its plasma waste converter, which remediates and processes wastes through a system of molecular dissociation. EnviPac, which has offices in Hiroshima and Hawaii, is required to purchase an industrial-sized PWC demonstration system in 1998 and to meet minimum annual sales levels starting in 1999.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
Ensuring that it has adequate capacity for forthcoming 0.35-micron flash memories, SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC. signed a new foundry agreement with SEIKO EPSON CORP. The two companies have had a similar arrangement in place since 1996 covering 0.5-micron process technologies. SST expects the first 0.35- micron products to be available early in 1999. They will be marketed in North America by Seiko Epson's semiconductor sales and marketing unit. As part of the agreement, the Sunnyvale, California company is licensing its SuperFlash technology to the Japanese firm for use in embedded applications.
Manufacturers of cellular phones now can make it more difficult to clone them thanks to INTEL CORP.'s Advanced + Boot Block flash technology. This chip, sample-priced between $7.90 and $17.00 per part in quantities of 10,000 units, adds a unique "silicon serial number," which, in combination with an unalterable, one-time programmable module, enables cell phone makers to put a second level of unique serial numbers in the phone. Intel's subsidiary also is sampling for $4.15 to $9.85 per unit in volume the Fast Boot Block flash, which reduces memory bottlenecks by increasing memory performance in embedded systems up to five times more than traditional flash approaches.
XILINX, INC. has an alternative to adding more standard DSP (digital signal processor) processors to scale up performance, which, relative to the gain, is expensive in terms of cost, board space, power consumption and development time. The San Jose, California company's solution is the programmable Xilinx DSP, a standard, off-the-shelf FPGA (field-programmable gate array) that is configured to implement DSP functions parameterized to specific applications. The Xilinx CORE Generator, which delivers system-level DSP functional blocks automatically, is free of charge from the company's subsidiary.
Although new to Japan, SYNERGY SEMICONDUCTOR CORP. is projecting sales of $11.1 million for the first year that its high-speed, energy-conserving ECL (emitter- coupled logic) devices are on the market. The Santa Clara, California company, whose primary focus is the development of high-speed mixed-signal products, chose Tokyo-based independent trader HAKUTO CO., LTD. as its distributor.
By pooling their design and manufacturing expertise, VIVID SEMICONDUCTOR, INC. and OKI ELECTRIC INDUSTRY CO., LTD. expect to capture a majority of the market for TFT LCD column driver ICs. The Chandler, Arizona company has developed technology that cuts the power consumption of energy-draining driver ICs while delivering true color to mobile computers (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 341, February 1998, pp. 17-18). It licensed this extended voltage range architecture and charge conservation technology to Oki Electric, which will make TFT LCD column driver ICs for comarketing under the Vivid Technology by Oki label. Samples are scheduled to be available in August at $15 per part, with commercial shipments starting in October. The partners expect to sell 1 million chips a month in FY 1999. They also plan to develop driver ICs for portable TVs and such new applications as personal DVD systems. Oki Electric already makes small and medium-sized CMOS driver ICs for TFT LCDs.
VIRTUAL SILICON TECHNOLOGY, INC. has tapped SOLITON SYSTEMS K.K. to market, sell and support its physical library and semiconductor intellectual property products. The Sunnyvale, California company provides process-specific and foundry- portable versions of its Diplomat libraries and "hard" IP to manufacturers of ASICs (application-specific ICs), ASSP (application-specific standard product) designers and systems developers working with 0.25-micron and 0.18-micron process technologies.
Development of a power-saving, smaller, faster and cheaper motor controller IC is the goal of an alliance between ANALOG DEVICES, INC. and SANKEN ELECTRIC CO., LTD. The expected part will combine a DSP, the Norwood, Massachusetts company's contribution, with a power IC from Sanken. Their initial target is a controller chip for refrigeration compressors. Then the partners will tackle products for other appliances and later for automotive applications, including power-steering systems, and computer equipment. Over three years, Analog Devices and Sanken expect combined sales of $80 million for the DSP-equipped motor controller part.
Through its subsidiary, ANALOG DEVICES, INC. is shipping to PC manufacturers a temperature sensing and monitoring IC for INTEL CORP.'s mobile Pentium II processors. The ADM1021, part of the PC Life Guard family, integrates Analog Devices' analog/digital converter and signal conditioning technologies. A number of new products are on the market from NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR CORP.'s subsidiary. The LM4882 is what is known as a boomer audio power amplifier, a product designed specifically to provide high-quality output power to portable systems with a minimal amount of external components using surface-mount packaging. Depending on the exact packaging, the part is individually priced at 70 cents or 59 cents in quantities of 1,000 units. The company also released a pair of 12- bit A/D converters for high-speed, high-resolution imaging applications. The ADC12081 operates at 5 MHz, the ADC12181 at 10 MHz. Both run off a 5-volt power supply. It complemented these parts with a pair of 14-bit A/D converters operating at 2.5 MHz from a 5-volt power supply. One, the ADC14061, also is designed for scanners, digital cameras and other high-speed, high-resolution imaging systems. The other, the ADC14161, is intended for communications equipment applications. In 1,000-unit lots, the parts are priced at $33.30 and $35.35, respectively.
An unnamed major Japanese semiconductor maker has taken delivery of AG ASSOCIATES, INC.'s first Starfire 200-millimeter (8-inch) rapid thermal processing system. Installed in the company's R&D facility, the equipment will be used for various RTP applications in both R&D and pilot production of ICs with line geometries of 0.18 micron. The two-chamber Starfire, which is based on a new cluster tool platform, is said to provide the advanced temperature measurement and control capabilities needed to address the stringent requirements of 0.18-micron processing at a low cost of ownership. The system can handle as many as 90 wafers an hour. CANON SALES CO., INC. is the San Jose, California manufacturer's distributor.
Automatic test equipment manufacturer LTX CORP. has given fellow ATE maker ANDO ELECTRIC CO., LTD. the right to market, sell and manufacture in Japan the Fusion system-on-a-chip test platform. In exchange, Ando, which specializes in memory and digital testers and provides local support for the Westwood, Massachusetts firm's products, will pay LTX $10 million and return to the company a block of common stock that it owns. Ando also will pay royalties on sales of Fusion systems. The two companies plan to codevelop new options and capabilities for the platform. They also will serve as a second supply source for the other's customers.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
To keep its Web site at the cutting edge, AMERICA ONLINE INC.'s subsidiary has teamed with EXCITE INC. of Redwood City, California to develop a localized version of AOL's NetFind Internet search and navigation tool, which relies on Excite's smart- search technology. Local users will be able to type in a word or a phrase in Japanese indicating the information they seek, and AOL NetFind will provide a list of links to Web sites matching the request. AOL and Excite will share advertising revenues generated by the service. Year-old-plus AOL JAPAN INC. is a joint venture between Dulles, Virginia-based AOL and MITSUI & CO., LTD. (40 percent) and NIHON KEIZAI SHIMBUN, INC. (10 percent). Excite also has a Japanese subsidiary.
A new Internet information service combines the Datastream/ICV global historical financial data base developed by a subsidiary of Waltham, Massachusetts-based PRIMARK CORP. with QUICK CORP.'s real-time equity-price information service. QUICK-Stream will "provide comprehensive coverage of financial market information outside Japan, which will help us meet the requirements of our clients in the midst of globalization and diversification of asset allocation," said the director and general manager of Tokyo-based Quick.
Internet-based auctioneer ONSALE INC. and SOFTBANK CORP. will develop and operate an Internet shopping mall for the Japanese market via a new company in which the Mountain View, California firm has a 40 percent interest. The real-time auction service is set to begin early next year. It will use ONSALE's unusual approach to Web sales. Products on the site will have minimum prices listed, but the final sales price and the buyer will be determined by an open Web auction. Softbank plans to obtain PCs, consumer electronics products, sporting goods and similar merchandise for auction from Japanese manufacturers with excess inventory.
To help other companies dive into Web sales, IBM JAPAN LTD. is offering a localized version of Net.Commerce V3 START, a virtual store construction and operation kit. Vendors can get started immediately by using one of the prebuilt sample "stores" included in the $5,200 kit, but they also can use the kit's tools to customize their own Web sales site. The program provides full SET-based security for electronic transactions and helps vendors collect information on the customers who surf in the "door."
The Tokyo subsidiary of VERISIGN, INC. has won a contract to secure SUMITOMO BANK, LTD.'s on-line financial services through its OnSite public key infrastructure system. The distributed PKI system can issue and manage digital identifications in the millions, a key feature for the bank, which hopes to attract many customers worldwide to its 18-month-old Internet banking services. In addition, Mountain View, California- based VeriSign will safeguard Sumitomo Bank's network communications with its 128-bit Global Server IDs. .....Separately, VERISIGN, INC.'s local operation has launched a premium reseller program with 10 Japanese firms, including NEC CORP. The resellers will incorporate VeriSign's E-Commerce Solutions security product, which is powered by OnSite, into their own software offerings.
Seattle-based REALNETWORKS, INC. has granted YAMAHA CORP. a license to incorporate its RealVideo and RealAudio media streaming technologies into the firm's MIDI packages. Yamaha hopes to have a beta version of the integrated software ready by this fall and a commercial product before the year's end.
The Java language continues to mature rapidly, as shown by the polish and the functionality of SYMANTEC CORP.'s latest edition of its Java-based application development suite, Visual Café for Java 2.5. The new release supports all features of JDK 1.1.5 and runs on Windows 95/NT systems. The Cupertino, California firm's subsidiary is marketing a professional version for $265 as well as a $58 data base API (application programming interface) add-on.
Another sign of Java's coming of age is RSA DATA SECURITY, INC.'s cryptographic tool, JSAFE 1.1, which can add security to all aspects of Java functions. The latest update of JSAFE does the encryption math in half the time of its predecessor as well as provides improved memory management and automatic hooks into RSA's BSAFE crypto tool. The San Mateo, California company's subsidiary is targeting sales of $740,700 for the software suite, which starts at $18,500. .....Separately, RSA DATA SECURITY, INC.'s local unit has rolled out a new version of the BSAFE cryptographic development toolkit. The 4.0 version includes public key algorithms (RSA, DSA and Diffie-Hellman), a spectrum of symmetric algorithms (RC2, RC5, DES and Triple-DES) and message digest algorithms (MD2, MD5 and SHA-1). In addition, BSAFE 4.0 includes RSA's new elliptical curve technology, which, while currently unproven, will allow developers to begin to familiarize themselves with this new method. BSAFE pricing also starts at $18,500. RSA's subsidiary has set the same sales goal for this package as it did for JSAFE.
HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. has received U.S. government approval to export its most advanced encryption services fulfillment and management technology to Japan. HP's VerSecure uses 128-bit keys and Triple-DES, but it can be tailored to provide the appropriate level of security for any type of electronic interaction. Based on its success with American hardware makers, HP expects to license VerSecure to a variety of Japanese computer and communications firms. Japan is the sixth country to which HP has been cleared to export VerSecure technology. It will be installed and managed by a Japanese company known as a security domain authority. That organization will distribute software tokens that activate encryption capabilities that support Japan's policy for local companies.
Makers of Unix operating system software are gearing up for the next big battle -- 64- bit software. SANTA CRUZ OPERATION, INC.'s subsidiary has started shipping UnixWare 7, which is targeted at departmental and enterprise computing markets that plan to shift next year to INTEL CORP.'s IA-64 64-bit architecture. The updated OS starts at $550 for an application development kit. "Purpose-built" UnixWare 7 products also are offered for enterprises, departments, intranets and messaging.
For its part, HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. announced that it would license its HP-UX operating system to HITACHI, LTD. and NEC CORP. for future parallel computing systems based on INTEL CORP.'s IA-64 architecture. The arrangement represents the first time that HP has licensed HP-UX for the Intel architecture. Company executives said that the move was designed to ensure that HP-UX, which runs on HP's PA-RISC processors, becomes the dominant platform for IA-64. While HP sells midrange servers running Windows NT, HP-UX offers much better reliability and scalability to users with major demands. FUJITSU, LTD., Japan's other big server manufacturer, is going with SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC.'s Solaris Unix-based system for 64-bit servers (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 344, May 1998, p. 6).
At the other end of the scale, an embedded real-time operating system written by INTEGRATED SYSTEMS, INC. of Sunnyvale, California has been endorsed by six more digital camera makers, including MINOLTA CO., LTD. and KYOCERA CORP. CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD. was the first company to back it. ISI is aiming for the lion's share of the local market for embedded operating systems for electronic devices.
A three-way alliance is using a software lure to promote INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP.'s AS/400 as a server platform in Japan. MAGIC SOFTWARE ENTERPRISES INC. and IBM JAPAN LTD. have agreed to make the Irvine, California firm's Magic Rapid Application Development System the programming environment of choice for the midrange computer family. MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. through its PANASONIC COMPUTER CO., LTD. unit will join the effort, becoming a strategic reseller of Magic's server development product. MEI previously promoted only Magic's tools for developing client applications.
More firms are rushing to help Japanese companies ward off computer problems caused by the year 2000. DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP.'s subsidiary will accept copies of customers' operating systems, review them for Y2K compliance, then write patches to accommodate dates beyond 1999. It expects revenues from Y2K services to hit $740,700 this year. ....Two San Jose, California firms are teaming up to offer Y2K services through a new Tokyo subsidiary. MATRIDIGM CORP. and IGNITE ASSOCIATES LLC will offer Y2K solutions based on MatriDigm's MARC2000 technology, including assessment, project management, code audit and code renovation. MatriDigm owns 25 percent of the Japanese unit.
The competition with MICROSOFT CORP.'s BackOffice software is heating up with IBM JAPAN LTD.'s introduction of server suites for all sizes of businesses. The basic IBM Suite -- priced from roughly $2,100 to $5,900, with $2,700 expected to be the cost of the most popular package -- can include any of these modules: Lotus Domino collaboration server, DB2 universal data base, eNetwork Communications Server, Tivoli Management Server and IBM Backup Server. The enterprise edition, which costs up to $18,500, adds IBM Transaction Series and MQSeries messaging middleware. IBM Japan says that the packages will save customers 30 percent to 40 percent over a separate pricing approach.
With corporate networks in Japan quickly multiplying, the market for network monitoring and management software remains active. ADVENT NETWORK MANAGEMENT, INC. and exclusive distributor NK-EXA CORP. have brought out a new release of the Woodbridge, New Jersey firm's Advent NetMonitor package. The $2,200 version 2.1J not only takes advantage of the software's easy language adaptability but offers greater support for Web browser links, Java JDK 1.1x support and more friendly user interfaces as well. .....A competing product from HEWLETT- PACKARD CO. -- HP NetMetrix -- allows network administrators to collect, consolidate, interpret and organize network performance data into easily understandable formats. NetMetrix comes in three "flavors": Unix (for HP-UX and SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC.'s Solaris), Windows and heterogeneous wide area networks (frame relay, X.25 or HDLC). HEWLETT-PACKARD JAPAN LTD. expects to sell 190 units of the $7,000 program the first year.
Through its subsidiary, LEGATO SYSTEMS, INC. of Palo Alto, California has introduced a localized version of the latest release of its NetWorker network backup utility. The 5.1J version supports Windows NT systems while offering faster performance and greater adaptability. A general-use version is priced around $1,700; an enterprise edition costs $10,800.
In its first step toward carrying out plans to become a complete computer solutions provider to businesses, COMPAQ COMPUTER CORP.'s unit is bundling firewall software from AXENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC. of Rockville, Maryland with its ProLiant and ProSignia servers. Compaq has packaged AXENT THE WALL Xtended and Raptor Firewall 5.0 for NT in three versions: a 50-user pack for $1,300, a 100-user pack for $10,400 and an unlimited license for $20,000. The company's follow-up moves will be to offer services to cut the total cost of ownership for networks and to resell SAP AG's enterprise resource planning software.
CITADEL TECHNOLOGY INC. has signed an exclusive distribution and marketing agreement with SYSTEM PLAN INC. to penetrate the network and workstation security market in Japan and in the rest of Asia. The Tokyo company will handle all language modifications and local distribution and marketing of Citadel's full line of products, including CPR, Server Sentry, NetOFF, WinShield and FolderBolt. Dallas-based Citadel expects System Plan's ties to NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORP. and NTT DATA CORP. to pay off handsomely.
To help Japanese customers safeguard critical data and communications through its SecurID authentication technology, SECURITY DYNAMICS TECHNOLOGIES, INC. has opened a wholly owned Tokyo operation. Along with the local presence of the Bedford, Massachusetts firm's RSA DATA SECURITY, INC. subsidiary, the new unit seeks to develop strategic partnerships with Japanese firms as well as support RSA's customers around the Pacific Rim.
INTERNET DEVICES, INC. of Sunnyvale, California is offering Japanese customers a one-stop source for their computer security needs in cooperation with new strategic partner FURUKAWA ELECTRIC CO., LTD. IDI's line revolves around its Fort Knox modular security software. Rather than have separate servers for firewalls, virtual private networks, e-mail and other Internet/intranet/extranet services, users can combine as many or as few Fort Knox modules together to meet their needs with a single, turnkey product. Furukawa Electric officials expect the partnership to generate sales of $12 million over the next three years based on Fort Knox module prices ranging from $2,700 to $12,400.
ORACLE CORP.'s latest release of its multidimensional data base Oracle OLAP Server 6.1 boosts both processing speed and analytic sophistication. The Windows NT version retails for $8,900 and up, while the Unix version starts at $9,300. .....SAS INSTITUTE INC. is keeping pace with a new version of its competing on-line analytical processing/data mining product, Enterprise Miner. The Cary, North Carolina firm's product sports a unique Process Flow Diagram approach to data mining, letting users search for patterns and relationships by simply dragging and dropping data and function icons. SAS's subsidiary expects sales of the $71,100 (for a five-client license) package will hit 150 units the first year and generate sales and service revenues of $22.2 million.
New on the market from LOTUS DEVELOPMENT CORP.'s local arm is a document management solution. The company claims that Domino.Doc 1.1, which costs $10,000 per server, is the only "out-of-the-box" document management program for network environments. Recognizing that corporate information takes many forms, Domino.Doc handles audio, video and graphics as well as traditional text.
Three new programs available locally target specialized data management needs. MAPINFO CORP.'s SpatialWare 2.1J stores geographic data in a relational data base, allowing people to use the data in sophisticated ways through simple queries. The Troy, New York firm's package is handled by an affiliate of MITSUI ENGINEERING & SHIPBUILDING CO., LTD. .....DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP.'s operation has crafted a data base system to meet the special needs of Japan's intellectual property regime. Available from RIKEI CORP. for anywhere from $111,100 to $370,400, Patent Focus Plus handles all types of patents and related information, helping companies defend and better utilize their IP resources. .....A system to store, manage and distribute medical image data -- DIGITAL ARTS & SCIENCES CORP.'s ImageAXS Pro-Med -- can be purchased exclusively from NICHIMEN DATA SYSTEMS CORP. The Alameda, California company's product handles still and video images as well as related audio and text information. It also offers support for DICOM (digital imaging and communications in medicine) links, visual annotation and electronic consultations over the Internet.
Leading its effort to remain at the top of the ERP business, ORACLE CORP.'s subsidiary put on the market a new version of Oracle Applications. Besides handling the usual ERP functions -- manufacturing/supply chain management, financials, human resources and front office tasks -- Release 11 has a fully integrated Business Intelligence System that lets all levels of the enterprise tap all information resources to find answers to their questions. CSK CORP. is helping to sell and integrate the ERP package. Sales are projected to hit $1.5 million this year and $4.4 million in 2000.
Cincinnati, Ohio-based CINCOM SYSTEMS, INC.'s subsidiary is broadening its ERP offerings. The company has broken its Control package into 10 modules, including Control Manufacturing (manufacturing execution) and Control Acquire (sales force automation). Control works with data base systems from ORACLE CORP. and HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 341, February 1998, p. 21).
MATRIXONE, INC. has brought its product development management package to local users through MARUBENI SOLUTIONS CORP. The Chelmsford, Massachusetts firm's Matrix not only integrates easily with ERP and computer-aided design programs, but it sets up quickly thanks to Business Wizards on-line help and reconfigures to meet changing business roles and processes without taking the system off line. Marubeni Solutions expects Matrix sales to hit $11.1 million this year, with prices starting at $86,700.
A new program from OPTIKA IMAGING SYSTEMS, INC. raises the concepts of electronic data interchange and supply chain management to a new, integrated, Internet-centric level. The Colorado Springs, Colorado firm spent two years developing Optika eMedia, trying to eliminate paper transactions at their source inside a company as well as between a company and its customers and suppliers. Optika eMedia goes beyond traditional document imaging to make all business transactions electronically based and to tie together all types of data resources. Tokyo-based HASSO CORP., which is responsible for localizing and distributing Optika eMedia, projects revenues this year of $7.4 million.
Building on its solid base of PC utility programs, NETWORK ASSOCIATES, INC. is moving into the help-desk market. McAfee HelpDesk 3.30J automates many call- center operations, such as entering caller information, and generates answers based on inputs using reasoning and knowledge-based tools. The Santa Clara, California firm claims that the package, which starts at $4,100 for a five-seat license, will help cut the total cost of ownership of PCs and networks.
Field service personnel faced with a rapidly growing number of products to support and expanding technical complexity can get a helping hand from RTS SOFTWARE INC.'s RTS Service Suite. The package handles and tracks all service requests as well as acts as a single entry point to product data, specifications and manuals. OMRON ALPHATEC CO., LTD. and TERAOKA SEIKO CO., LTD. have signed multimillion-dollar contracts to install the Waltham, Massachusetts firm's software throughout their global service networks. Included are kanji versions of five RTS applications.
Along with the local release of its Windows 98 operating system, MICROSOFT CORP.'s subsidiary rolled out a new version of its Money personal finance management program. Money 98, which lists at $87, offers home banking services through the Internet, long-term goal planning and asset-management modules.
LOTUS DEVELOPMENT CORP.'s local operation has freshened its perennial 1-2-3 line of products to take advantage of Windows 98. Lotus 1-2-3 98 spreadsheet, which costs $148, 1-2-3 Accounting, priced at double that figure, and the $185 Lotus Super Office 98 offer better integration with Internet services. The Lotus subsidiary expects combined sales to top 3 million units.
Even as it tries to build new markets, PC utility maker NETWORK ASSOCIATES, INC. is not ignoring its bread-and-butter business. The company's local operation has released a new English version of its Pretty Good Privacy encryption software as well as a version targeted at protecting data stored on removable media and mobile computers.
Building on its large, established customer base, the subsidiary of SYMANTEC CORP. is offering a new antivirus service to businesses. Beginning at $4,200 a year for 100 users, the firm provides weekly updates to its virus data base through a Web site.
Working together, engineers from MICROTEST INC. and Tokyo-based ARK INFORMATION SYSTEMS CO., LTD. have expanded the capabilities of the Phoenix, Arizona firm's Virtual CD utility. The original program allowed an user to transfer a CD- ROM's contents to his or her PC's hard disk drive, yet access it as if it were a CD-ROM drive. The new program allows this virtual CD-ROM to be shared across a network. It also allows caching of audio, mixed-mode audio/data, CDI video and CD-extra data on any local or networked storage device. Sold in Japan by AIS as CD Revolution/VIRTUAL, the program has won awards and is a best seller.
VIAGRAFIX CORP.'s family of CAD programs for Windows-based PCs continues to evolve. The Pryor, Oklahoma-based firm has released in Japan DesignCAD LT, priced around $260, and DesignCAD Pro, which costs $405, through distributor E&C CORP. of Tokyo. The lower-priced product offers strong two-dimensional capabilities and elementary 3D functions, letting users experiment and determine if they need the more expensive solid-modeling features. ViaGrafix's professional edition has extensive 3D features as well as interfaces for many programming languages and other CAD programs.
To promote sales of CAD products, HEWLETT-PACKARD JAPAN LTD. has set up a separate subsidiary for its parent's COCREATE SOFTWARE INC. unit (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 339, December 1997, p. 21). The 60-person Tokyo operation will focus on consulting for machine-oriented CAD installations as well as CAD software education. It also will support production data management tools. HP Japan has experienced strong demand for CAD and PDM software over the past year and expects this trend to continue.
Ann Arbor, Michigan-headquartered TRANSOM TECHNOLOGIES, INC., a leader in digital human mock-ups, human modeling and simulation, and human virtual reality, has introduced a new 3D modeling environment. Based on software developed by the University of Pennsylvania, Transom Jack lets users import objects into a virtual environment, populate it with human figures, allow these figures to interact, then export the virtual world to a variety of sources, including video tape. Exclusive distributor INFORMATION SERVICES INTERNATIONAL-DENTSU, LTD. sees a wide range of applications for Transom Jack in Japan, including ergonomics simulation by automotive and consumer goods makers.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
Another cable television operator has selected COM21, INC.'s ComUNITY Access cable modem system to launch a high-speed data-over-cable service (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 344, May 1998, p. 23). NIHON NETWORK SERVICE CO., LTD., which has approximately 130,000 subscribers, is the first company to offer its customers multitiered Internet access. This allows users to match their bandwidth needs to their budget. The tiers of service range from 64 kilobits per second to 1.5 megabits per second. With the ComUNITY Access System, NNS also can provide virtual local area networks to companies and virtual private network services to SOHO (small office/home office) customers. FURUKAWA ELECTRIC CO., LTD., one of the Milpitas, California-based Com21's systems integrators, received the order from NNS.
Wireless Internet and electronic mail services also are coming to Japan. DDI CORP. and NIPPON IDOU TSUSHIN CORP. (known as IDO), which together have 10 million wireless customers, have selected UNWIRED PLANET, INC.'s open software platform to implement Internet and e-mail links on their separate PDC (personal digital communications) and coming cdmaOne cellular phone networks (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 339, December 1997, p. 22). The Redwood City, California company's UP.Link Server Suite will support kanji as well as multibyte character sets for European languages. To access the Internet or the corporate intranet, though, DDI and IDO customers must have mobile phones running UP. Browser, a microbrowser that also is compatible with Wireless Application Protocol standards. Unwired Planet recently opened a wholly owned subsidiary in Tokyo (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 344, May 1998, p. 22).
The increasingly tough competition in Japan's network equipment market has claimed a high-profile victim, COMPAQ COMPUTER CORP. The top PC maker's subsidiary moved into this business in late 1996, but its sales of the Netelligent line of Ethernet switches and related products totaled less than $7.4 million last year. Compaq's local operation also stopped handling remote access products made by MICROCOM, INC., a company acquired last year, and dissolved the Norwood, Massachusetts firm's subsidiary. Network interface cards are the only communications product that Compaq will continue to sell.
The aggressive marketing push of CISCO SYSTEMS, INC. in Japan certainly did not make life easier for COMPAQ COMPUTER CORP. The world's top supplier of network equipment currently is trying to build sales among small and midsized companies with the help of SOFTBANK CORP., one of its subsidiary's primary distributors. In August, the two will form Softbank Cisco Masters, a secondary reseller network for Cisco products made up of roughly 25 firms that work with Softbank. Through moves like this, Cisco hopes to double sales to small and midsized customers from $25.9 million, which represents about 5 percent of its annual Japan revenues.
EXCEL SWITCHING CORP., a manufacturer and marketer of open, programmable, carrier-class switches, has opened its first overseas subsidiary in Tokyo. The Hyannis, Massachusetts company currently is pushing its ONE Architecture, a strategy that uses its flagship product, the Expandable Switching System, to enable carriers to offer network routing, a variety of enhanced services and media support in a single, integrated, scalable switching platform. The modular design of the ONE Architecture allows it to scale from 100 ports to 30,000 ports. Multiple Excel switches already are installed in Japan.
Network managers that need more bandwidth can do what big interexchange carriers have done: deploy wavelength division multiplexer technology. So says CANOGA PERKINS CORP., which has developed a WDM system specifically for high-speed LAN applications. The Access Model WA-4 is a protocol-independent system that supports data transmissions at speeds from 10 Mbps to 155 Mbps. It lets network managers combine in a cost-effective way ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) (OC-3), FDDI (fiber-distributed data interface), Ethernet/Fast Ethernet and other protocols over the same fiber backbone. The Chatsworth, California company tapped NET ONE SYSTEMS CO., LTD. to distribute the Access Model WA-4, which costs $64,200 and up. Sales are forecast at 100 units.
Rounding out its line of products for creating high-performance intranets, CISCO SYSTEMS, INC. introduced to major world markets the Cisco Catalyst 8500 switch series for the campus backbone. Users can configure these products to act as either an Internet Protocol/IPX switch, a Gigabit Ethernet switch or a native ATM switch. The first member of the series available in Japan is the Catalyst 8510, which supplies a 10- Gbps switching fabric with four available interface slots. Cisco's subsidiary has priced it from $35,600. In September, it will release the other current product in the line, the Catalyst 8540. This switch is based on a fully redundant, 40-Gbps switching fabric with eight available interface slots.
The campus backbone also is the target of the P550 Cajun Switch from LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES INC.'s subsidiary. Developed by PROMINENT CORP., a start-up that Lucent acquired late last year, the compact (10.5 inches high) switch is said to have two to three times the capacity of any other Gigabit-class product as well as an unrivaled total backplane capacity of 45.76 Gbps, with 22.88 Gbps switching throughput capacity. The P550 Cajun Switch supports up to 24 full-duplex Gigabit Ethernet ports, as many as 120 10/100 Fast Ethernet ports or a maximum of 60 fiber- optic Fast Ethernet ports. NET ONE SYSTEMS CO., LTD. is handling sales for Lucent. The P550 Cajun Switch starts at $49,000. The distributor expects to sell 300 systems a year.
The Gigabit Ethernet switch market is becoming crowded, but newcomer HEWLETT- PACKARD CO. believes that the low pricing of its pair of new ProCurve scalable Ethernet switching solutions, combined with their performance and functionality, will make it stand out. The HP ProCurve Switch 8000M, which is designed for backbone networks, provides up to 80 switched 10/100-Mbps and 10 Gigabit network connections for a total of 3.8 Gbps of bandwidth. HEWLETT-PACKARD JAPAN LTD. priced this configuration at $5,100. Its partner is the $4,100 HP ProCurve Switch 1600M, a 16-port, fixed-configuration 10/100 autosensing switch with a slot for optional Gigabit connectivity. It is optimized to act as a server farm integration point, offering 3.5 Gbps of total bandwidth.
CACHEFLOW INC. has named NISSHO ELECTRONICS CORP. to distribute its rack- mounted network caching appliances to Internet service providers and enterprises that need to improve end-user response times and leverage their bandwidth. The key to this capability is the Palo Alto, California firm's CacheOS, an operating system designed specifically for network caching. CacheFlow's flagship product, the CacheFlow 1000, is engineered for high traffic network points. Featuring hot- swappable disk drives and hardware redundancy, it can scale from 4 GB of disk to 25 GB. This system starts at $81,500. Priced around $18,400 is the CacheFlow 100, which is designed for enterprise deployment at moderate traffic points in the network, such as subnets and remote office WAN access points. It contains a 2-GB disk.
Wireless LANs are going to take off in Japan judging by NCR CORP.'s expectation of selling over the next three years 200,000 WaveLAN cards that comply with the recently ratified IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless LANs. While drawing little power, the new WaveLAN/IEEE system can transmit data up to 1,200 feet in an open area like a factory, a warehouse and a store with a throughput of 2 Mbps. A PC Card implements WaveLAN/IEEE for laptop, portable and handheld devices. NCR's subsidiary priced it at $650. A $725 ISA card is available for desktop computers.
About 1,000 companies are expected to sign up this year for two new data communications services offered by AT&T JENS CORP. The NetClient Service, aimed at small and midsized companies, provides a dedicated line operating at either 64 Kbps ($725 a month) or 126 Kbps (roughly $1,200 a month). The Shared Network Server Option, as it name suggests, allows a person or a company to lease capacity on a server. The monthly charge for 5 megabytes is $185, while leasing double that amount costs $355.
In a sign of the times, AT&T JENS CORP. is selling prepaid Internet telephone cards at LAWSON INC.'s nationwide chain of convenience stores. Users can call to 110 foreign locations or to five areas within Japan, including Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama, from anywhere in the country. The voice-over-IP calls can be placed from home telephones, pay phones, cellular phones or PHS (personal handyphone system) units. AT&T Jens says that its rates undercut the competition's for calls placed through traditional carrier systems. For instance, a three-minute call to the United States is 72 percent less expensive than if it were placed through KOKUSAI DENSHIN DENWA CO., LTD.
ISP STAR-NET CO., LTD. is offering its corporate and dial-up customers facsimile service over the Internet, saving them 30 percent to 50 percent compared with traditional phone lines. Its GRICfax is a product of GRIC COMMUNICATIONS INC. (formerly AimQuest Corp.), a Milpitas, California alliance of nearly 300 ISPs and telephone companies in more than 75 countries. GRICfax does not require the receiving fax machine to have any special software or hardware to get faxes sent over the GRICfax network. The transmission itself is accomplished using fax-over-IP software servers that are at the originating ISP's site and at terminating sites. Star-Net, a SUMITOMO CORP. affiliate, is the first Japanese ISP to offer GRICfax.
Persuading people to use their TV sets to access the Internet apparently is proving to be more difficult than WEBTV NETWORKS INC. anticipated when it launched its local WebTV service in December. Now the Palo Alto, California subsidiary of MICROSOFT CORP. has enlisted FUJITSU, LTD., NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORP. and four other ISPs to market a new, discounted service called Open ISP to their subscribers. People still must buy a WebTV set-top box, but they have a choice of obtaining Internet connections through one of the participating ISPs or from WebTV Networks directly. Through the new tie-up, the company hopes to have 150,000 subscribers by the end of the year. ORACLE CORP. and its NETWORK COMPUTER, INC. affiliate are offering a competing service, NCTV (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 343, April 1998, p. 25).
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
To expand its business in the world's fourth-largest jeans market, the owner of the Wrangler brand, VF CORP. of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, joined current Wrangler licensee and big textile manufacturer TOYOBO CO., LTD. and MITSUBISHI CORP. to establish a majority-held company to make and market the Wrangler product. Japan is one of VF's largest Wrangler licensed operations, generating annual revenues in excess of $100 million. Toyobo has marketed the Wrangler brand since 1971, building it into the third best-selling jeans in the country. VF's Lee brand of jeans, which is licensed to another company, is not affected by the joint venture.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
The first TRW INC. engineering center in Asia to support all of the big automotive parts maker's varied product lines will be located in Japan. The site selection process will be completed by the end of this year, with the facility opening in the second half of 1999 and becoming fully operational by 2001. The center, which will add about 50 people to TRW's in-country sales and engineering staff, will house computer-aided design and engineering operations, communications, test and evaluation facilities, a laboratory and prototype production capabilities. TRW is the world's largest provider of occupant-restraint systems. It also is a leading manufacturer of engine valves, valve train components and valve train systems as well as of electronic safety, security and convenience systems. The four existing TRW marketing and engineering offices in Japan, all located in proximity to customers, will remain in operation.
By 2003, MERITOR AUTOMOTIVE INC. hopes to double its 1997 Japan sales of $21.2 million. The former automotive operations of ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL CORP. will expand the range of products made at its Hiroshima plant, which has been in operation since 1993. The lineup now includes sunroofs and actuators for supply to MAZDA MOTOR CORP. and a FORD MOTOR CO. plant in Australia. Beginning in May 1999, the Troy, Michigan company will add currently imported window regulators to the plant's output. Other parts for local production also are under consideration.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.
A variety of ONE-WRAP straps from VELCRO USA INC. is being sold by the Manchester, New Hampshire company's longtime marketing partner and licensee, KURARAY CO., LTD. Reusable, self-gripping ONE-WRAP straps are available for small appliances, personal care products, power tools and other small, corded products. Another line is designed to be used as self-gripping fiber-optic and cable control straps. They come in widths up to 12 inches and in virtually any length. Kuraray also is marketing for cord and cable control a ONE-WRAP back-to-back fastening system featuring a polyethylene hook laminated to a nylon loop.
A heat-insulating material developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and licensed to THERMA-COAT, INC. is being marketed by TAIYO P.U.S. CO., LTD. T.S. Temp Guard costs about $330 for a 5-gallon can. The Osaka distributor formed an association with roughly 45 members to promote T.S. Temp Guard and to develop new uses for it.
SUMITOMO 3M LTD. is selling heat-resistant, flexible tubing for filtering ashes from incinerators. Made of specially treated inorganic fibers, MINNESOTA MINING & MANUFACTURING CO.'s FM900 filtering bag can withstand temperatures as high as 480 degrees. Its predecessor was limited to temperatures below 250 degrees. The product, which reduces the cost of cooling flue gases from incinerators, is priced around $275 per square yard. Sumitomo 3M expects the FM900 to generate revenues of $740,700 in the first year on the market.
The company whose name is synonymous with whirlpool baths, JACUZZI INC. of Walnut Creek, California, has developed a product specifically for the Japanese market. Including installation, the Relaxation Bath Time whirlpool bath costs $3,700. It is available from Tokyo's NICHIEI INTEC CO., LTD., as is a $7,400 model that combines a whirlpool bath and a shower. Jacuzzi projects sales of the new product line at 1,000 units in 1998.
Renton, Washington-headquartered EAGLE HARDWARE & GARDEN, INC., which operates a chain of 30 home-improvement stores, is helping a counterpart move into the kitchen and bath design business. BETTER LIFE CO., LTD. plans to launch its first kitchen and bath design center in a new do-it-yourself store opening later this summer in Nara prefecture. The 8,900-square-foot in-store shop will stock American-made kitchen and bathroom products.
Two of the big names in home and corporate security services in Japan, SECOM CO., LTD. and HUCOM INC., are using a tie-up with the International Computer Security Association to move into the business of helping companies protect their computer networks against unauthorized access. That protection is seen as critical to the spread of electronic commerce. The pair will check the security safeguards firms have in place and investigate suspected instances of unauthorized access. Companies certified as having well-protected networks will be able to display the ICSA logo.
ACTLINK USA CORP., an environmental consulting firm based in Phoenix, Arizona, is bringing its expertise on recycling both industrial and home waste products to Japan. The company hopes to interest local governments and commercial recyclers in the construction of a reprocessing plant expected to cost between $22.2 million and $29.6 million to serve the requirements of a population of roughly 300,000. If it is successful in winning backers, Actlink will oversee construction of the facility as well as manage operations. The company plans to open a subsidiary in Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture in the spring of 1999.
The Project Management Institute, a nonprofit membership association for project managers located in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, has started a Japan chapter. PMI establishes project management standards, provides seminars and other educational programs, and certifies project management professionals. In November, the Tokyo organization will begin to offer a project management professional authorization certification program as a prelude to certifying people.
An exchange rate of ¥135=$1.00 was used in this report.