Infineon and Sanyo team up on RF circuits for 3G handsets

Tadahiko Tanaka, head of Sanyo Electric's semiconductor division, said the high-frequency, low-power devices were expected to debut by the end of the year in third-generation (3G) cell phones, which will be able to offer moving pictures and CD-quality sound via 3G's much faster data transmission.

The companies initially plan to produce the tiny devices at a rate of about 50 million per month.

Infineon Technologies Japan KK chief operating officer Fritjof Willmann said the companies would likely expand their cooperation further in discrete devices, a small but stable component of the semiconductor market. Unlike integrated circuits, discrete devices usually contain only one active element.

``We will expand our cooperation further in the discrete semiconductor segment in the future,'' Willmann said.

Infineon will supply ultra-high frequency transistor chips that Sanyo will use to make leadless chip packages, which will be marketed separately under both companies' brands.