In an earnest that Japanese companies do take trade concerns seriously, Mitsubishi Electric Corp has announced plans to create a database to improve the visibility of foreign chips, so that public-spirited buyers will will find it easier to identify foreign parts that meet their requirements – where they are available: according to Newsbytes, starting with 1M-bit memory chips (that won’t do foreign firms too much good), the company will compile a list of suppliers and their parts, identifying each according to performance, price and any special features; the aim is to offer details of the parts on offer from 70 companies, including Motorola, Intel and Texas Instruments from the US, Siemens, Philips and Thomson from Europe, Samsung from South Korea; Mitsubishi reckons that one of the stumbling blocks for companies wanting to buy foreign chips is the lack of information on which parts are comparable in performance.
