Sharp Corporation (head office: Osaka; President: Katsuhiko Machida), Toshiba 
Corporation (head office: Kanagawa; President and Chief Executive Officer: 
Tadashi Okamura), NEC Corporation (head office: Tokyo; President: Koji Nishigaki), 
Hitachi, Ltd. (head office: Tokyo; President and Director: Etsuhiko Shoyama), 
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (head office: Osaka; President, Member of 
the Board: Kunio Nakamura), and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (head office: Tokyo; 
President and CEO: Ichiro Taniguchi) have jointly established a company that will 
develop basic technology for the next-generation of LCDs which is difficult to do 
with one company.  The new company is called Advanced LCD Technologies Development 
Center Co., Ltd. (ALTEDEC).

Rapid progress in digital and telecommunications technologies have brought us to 
the verge of a full-fledged networked society, in which there are always displays 
wherever the access to information is needed. With LCDs being the most promising 
candidate to display and convey this information, there is an urgent need to make 
high performance and environmentally friendly, such as high in energy efficiency 
etc., displays. 

To help meet society's rapidly changing needs in the 21st century, this joint 
effort will combine the resources of industry, government and university to create 
a development system that brings together the collective strength of the LCD 
industry to create a "technology platform"-- the future foundation of the LCD industry. 

In order to promote leading-edge research and development for LCD display 
technologies, the new company will work to contribute to the advancement of Japan's 
LCD industry, the training of human resources included, through the following themes.

1. Research and development into energy-efficient manufacturing technology to 
   produce high-performance active matrix LCDs
2. Research and development into next-generation basic technology to create 
   advanced LCDs    

Outline of New Company
Name: Advanced LCD Technologies Development Center Co., Ltd. (ALTEDEC)
Location: 33, Shin-Isogo-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken, Japan
Date of establishment: January 2001 
President: Fumiaki Funada (from Sharp Corporation)  
Capital: 50.4 million yen
Shareholders: Sharp Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, NEC Corporation, 
              Hitachi, Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., 
              Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
               (Note: All companies hold an equal value of shares.)
Auditor: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.

Inquiries from the press
Contact:
Advanced LCD Technologies Development Center Co., Ltd. (ALTEDEC)
Phone: +81-45-753-1253
Fax: +81-45-753-1287
URL:http://www.mmjp.or.jp/ALTEDEC