Hitachi to abandon chip manufacturing by 2014

This step is being taken to optimally allocate management resources to better enhance the competitiveness of Hitachi's Information & Telecommunication Systems business. Hitachi will terminate the manufacture of semiconductor integrated circuits currently performed by the Micro Device Division under the Information & Telecommunication Systems Company on March 31, 2014. The semiconductor industry has seen an increasingly horizontal division of labor in terms of development, design and manufacturing in recent years. The same holds true for Hitachi, which has pushed ahead with the external outsourcing of production of certain products alongside efforts to curb manufacturing costs and boost production efficiency in a bid to maintain and enhance business competitiveness. It was in this climate that the decision was made to terminate and outsource externally the manufacture of semiconductor integrated circuits presently performed under the Micro Device Division. The intent of this move is to optimally allocate management resources to bolster the competitiveness of the entire Information & Telecommunication Systems business.