According to an announcement by Sony and NEC, the two companies have signed a MoU to establish a joint venture combining their optical disc drive businesses. The companies stated that the joint venture will start operations on April 1 2006, and that it will focus on production of DVD and CD drives for PCs and other products. As NEC supports the next-generation HD-DVD format and Sony the Blu-ray format, the joint venture will produce DVD drives for both standards. Sony will take a 55% stake in the venture, while the remaining 45% will be controlled by NEC.