TOKYO-Oki Electric, a leading electronic manufacturer in Japan, plans to expand sales for semiconductors for PHS handsets to meet far-expanding demand for PHS units in Asia, the firm said Wednesday. The company is targeting to sell a total of 7 million units of LSI chips for PHS terminals in 2003, a 100-percent increase from 2002.
In Japan, PHS users peaked in 1997. However, the number of PHS users started picking up in 2001 in China due to services offered by fixed-line operators China Telecom and China Netcom. Oki has been receiving many orders for the LSI chips from Japanese PHS manufacturers, which provide PHS handsets to the Chinese market.
Oki is manufacturing LSI at its own factories and through UMC in Taiwan and is selling products to several Japanese manufacturers. The firm is in talks with local Chinese manufacturers, targeting to launch PHS chip supplies to some local Chinese manufacturers in the latter half of 2003.
