Sony and NEC have announced that they've signed an agreement forming a new joint venture, Sony NEC Optiarc Inc. The two companies will spin off their respective optical disc drive businesses on April 1 and transfer them to the joint venture on April 3.
Sony Corporation ("Sony") and NEC Corporation ("NEC") announce today that they have signed a definitive agreement to establish a joint venture company, Sony NEC Optiarc Inc., in carrying out optical disc drive business. Shinichi Yamamura, currently Deputy President of Video Business Group of Sony, will serve as the president of the new company. Sony and NEC will separate their respective optical disc drive businesses on April 1, 2006 in preparation for creating this joint venture. The planned date of establishment of Sony NEC Optiarc Inc, is April 3, 2006 and it will take over the two separated businesses in creating one company.
This newly formed venture is expected to be the world's second-largest optical disc drive maker, topped only by Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS). If you'd like to read more about the joint venture, Sony's press release can be found here.