That Corp Semiconductor Fabrication

Since its establishment in 1941 as Japan's first specialty manufacturer of optical glass, Hoya has diversified into business areas that exploit the potential of advanced optics technologies. The company has continued to grow as a global enterprise through the expansion of its business activities, which encompass electro-optics, photonics, vision care, health care and crystal products. Hoya announced the next Medium Term Strategic Plan taking the first step in April 1997. With this plan, Hoya adopted an internal company system, in anticipation of legal approval of holding companies in Japan, in view of achieving 50 percent of annual net sales from overseas activities by fiscal 2002. Hoya considers maintenance of growth by management designed to survive and prosper in the era of mega-competition, clarification of corporate governance and respect for shareholders' rights, to be the fundamental concepts behind all business decisions.

NeoMagic Corporation provides applications processors to enable new generations of handheld systems. Established in 1993, the company has pioneered the integration of memory, complex logic and analog circuits into single-chip solutions. Its semiconductor chips and software provide mobile solutions that enable new multimedia features for handheld devices and offer low power consumption and fast processing times. It demonstrated one of the first solutions used for H.264 video decoding in a mobile digital TV phone and is developing and delivering solutions for audio and video processing dominant mobile digital television standards. For its complete system solution, the company delivers a suite of middleware and sample applications for imaging, video and audio functionality and provides multiple operating system ports with customized drivers for its MiMagic product family. The company has a portfolio of more than 25 patents. NeoMagic Corporation is located in Santa Clara, Calif.

Founded in 1965, Hitachi Metals America manufactures and markets a range of metal products. The company has a staff of more than 1,900 employees. It serves the automotive, industrial, telecommunications and information technology and energy sectors. Hitachi Metals America offers cast alnico, ceramic and neodymium-iron-boron magnets for clients worldwide. The company has over five manufacturing subsidiaries and several sales offices throughout the United States. It provides ceramic scintillators and magnetic sensors for the medical market. In addition, Hitachi Metals America offers several types of power supply and semiconductor components. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Metals, which has annual sales revenues of over $7 billion.