Chip Alliance Yields New Semiconductor

IBM Corp., Siemens AG of Germany and Toshiba Corp. of Japan announced Tuesday that their $1 billion semiconductor research alliance has succeeded in developing an advanced computer memory chip.

The chip, the product of more than two years research, will enable engineers to design products such as far more compact and powerful computers and high-quality digital televisions, the companies said.

Several other semiconductor companies already have announced development of 256-megabit memory chips, but the three companies said their design is smaller and nearly twice as fast.

The experimental chip is fully functional, but won’t be ready for marketing for at least three years, they said.