Japanese companies pitch in to save chip manufacturer

New York Times : Renesas Electronics, a Japanese company that produces computer chips, is to receive a $1.8 billion bailout from some of Japan’s largest manufacturers, including Canon, Nikon, Nissan, Panasonic, and Toyota. Facing tough competition from such rivals as South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and a slowing global economy, Renesas has suffered net losses and lost 35% of its market value over the past year. The company was formed in 2003 by the merger of Hitachi’s and Mitsubishi Electric’s semiconductor businesses. It later joined NEC Electronics in 2010 to create the current company. Despite investment offers from other countries, including the US, Japan has been reluctant to relinquish its control over Renesas’s advanced microcontroller chip technology, which is considered extremely important to Japanese industry.