Ｆｅｂｒｕａｒｙ 20，2002 Alliance with Macnica
to Expand Market in Info-communications
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Aichi Steel Corporation
(Headquarters: Tokai City, Aichi Prefecture / President: Yuji Shibata) and its subsidiary
Aichi Micro Intelligent Corporation (AMI, headquarters: Tokai City, Aichi Prefecture /
President: Akiyoshi Morita) have succeeded in developing a micro-miniature, high sensitive
Magnet Impedance (MI) Sensor Module to be installed in mobile phones. To mass-produce and market these modules in the
field of info-communications, the companies partnered with Macnica, Inc. (Headquarters:
Yokohama City / President: Haruki Kamiyama). The MI Sensor, which was invented by Professor Kaneo Mohri of Nagoya University, is an epoc-making magnetic sensor that is a million times more sensitive than conventional products. Aichi Steel has completed MI Sensor-related development commissioned by the Japan Science and Technology Corporation, and succeeded in reducing the size of the MI Sensor by modularizing the sensor and special-purpose Integrated Circuit (IC) in one package, as an IC type of MI sensor or MI Sensor Module. Mobile equipment, e.g. mobile phones, has required azimuth sensors for geographical information services. As space is limited, however, the size of the azimuth sensors must be reduced for this equipment. Aichi Steel and AMI implemented biaxial micro-miniature MI Sensors and switched from circuits to IC to reduce the size of the azimuth sensor module. Consequently, they realized an azimuth sensor that was one-fifth smaller than conventional products and had sufficient azimuth resolution to meet market needs. These two companies estimate that sales will reach 100 million in volume. Aichi Steel and Macnica have been working together to develop the azimuth sensor module for mobile phones. The companies have now decided to form an official alliance to develop sensors in Aichi Steel and AMI, and to develop and market info-communication modules in Macnica. The companies aim to develop a wide variety of MI sensor modules for info-communications, such as magnetic card readers, printers, security equipment, and amusement devices, beginning with azimuth sensors for mobile phones. These two companies expect that MI sensor modules will represent a significant step toward creating intelligent information tools and that it will expand their market to more than one billion in sales volume in the near future. Overview of the alliance1. Member companies: Aichi Steel Corporation, Aichi Micro Intelligent Corporation, Macnica, Inc. 2. Fields: Info-communications 3. Contract date: February 20, 2002 4. Contents of contract: Joint research on MI sensor modules and marketing contract between the above three companies 5. Products: MI sensors and MI sensor modules 6. Release dates: Providing engineering prototypes begins March 1, 2002, on the market in October 2002 7. Contact: Aichi Steel Corporation/Electronics & Magnetization Div. Address: 1, Wano-wari, Arao-machi, Tokai City, Aichi Prefecture, 476-8666, Japan Tel: 81-52-603-9286 (direct-dial) Fax: 81-52-603-9831 URL: http://www.aichi-steel.co.jp/ Macnica, Inc. Brilliant Technologies Company Products /Marketing Division Address: 1-22-2 Hakusan, Midori-ku, Yokohama City, 226-8505, Japan Tel: 81-45-939-6116 (direct-dial) Fax: 81-45-939-6117 URL: http://www.macnica.co.jp/
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