Motorola, Philips and STM in R&D pact

NEWS Three of the world's largest chip-makers have decided to team up for limited research and development purposes. Motorola, Philips and STMicroelectronics are to establish a facility in Crolles, near Grenoble in France, that will receive about $2.5bn in investment over the next five years. The partnership is a win for France - which will likely see over 500 jobs created locally - and is the latest in a string of cooperative deals between chip-makers, gut-punched last year as sector-wide sales fell 33 per cent.