Japan's Fujitsu issued a statement on January 21 that the company's board has approved plans to spin off its LSI (Large-Scale Integration) chip business and relocate its present 90nm chip R&D and related operations from the Akiruno Technology Center in Tokyo to the company's Mie plant, Nikkei Electronics reported.

Fujitsu estimates the cost of the relocation project at approximately 10 billion Yen (US$93.6 million; US$1 = 106.8 Yen) and expects to finish the project by September 2008. Following the LSI chip business spin-off, slated for completion by the end of March 2008, Fujitsu intends to focus on ASSP (Application-Specific Standard Product) and ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) business instead.

By spinning off its LSI chip business, Fujitsu is expected to court partnership with other companies in the semiconductor segment. Of the major Japanese semiconductor companies, NEC and Toshiba have announced partnership for 32nm chips, while Matsushita has teamed up with Renesas. Hitachi and Mitsubishi are also eyeing a 32nm chip venture. According to a Nikkei report, Fujitsu is considering to join the alliance of NEC and Toshiba.