According to a recent report in the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun, five Japanese companies have agreed in principle to jointly establish a semiconductor company to produce advanced system chips. The report stated that the five companies, including Hitachi, Renesas, Toshiba, NEC, and Matsushita, are planning to invest up to 200 billion Yen in a production facility, which they expect will be completed in 2006, after which production can start in 2007. Japanese chip makers are facing strong competition from Korean and US companies, forcing them to find new ways to stay competitive.