Casio 2000 Annual Report Download - page 8

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In February 2000, Casio and Vodafone AirTouch Plc of the United Kingdom, the world’s largest mobile telephone carrier, an-
nounced a world-wide agreement to develop a mobile e-mail terminal. We aim to commercialize the initial model, designed to be
connected to a cellular handset, in fall 2000. In the future, we aim to launch a stand-alone unit with wireless capabilities.
In June 2000, after the close of the fiscal year, Casio reached an agreement with iAnywhere SolutionsTM, Inc., a wholly owned
subsidiary of Sybase, Inc., to embed the company’s database and synchronization technology in CASSIOPEIA®Pocket PCs for
world markets. This effectively expanded our alliance with Sybase, which had previously been limited to Japan.
COM PETITIVE STRENGTHS IN HARDWARE TECHNOLOGY Casio excels in manufacturing and designing devices that are compact,
lightweight and energy efficient—qualities essential for mobile devices. These capabilities extend to the production of vivid color
LCDs, a feature demanded by multimedia applications. In short, the LCDs and high-density mounting technologies developed
through our electronic component operations form the bedrock competencies for producing mobile devices with unique and
attractive features.
From the beginning, Casio developed its exclusive HyperAmorphous Silicon TFT (HAST) LCDs for the small and medium-
sized display market, especially for such imaging devices as digital camcorders and cameras.
Consequently, our HAST-LCDs excel not only in the areas that are needed for mobile information de-
vices—compact size, light weight and energy efficiency—but they also offer vivid and beautiful color
images. This combination of strengths clearly differentiates Casio’s LCDs from those of companies that
originally targeted larger PC displays. Our HAST-LCDs offer a highly competitive balance of vivid
image, compact size and power conservation. We succeeded in achieving features that had not been
possible with conventional amorphous-silicon TFT-LCDs.
Another key competency is represented by connecting devices based on high-density surface
mounting technologies. Casio Micronics Co., Ltd., a subsidiary, is building a growing market
presence based on specialized expertise in film devices and bump processing, both of which are
key elements of late-stage semiconductor fabrication, especially for driver LSI fabrication for LCDs used in cellular hand-
sets and PCs.
Bumping techniques create connection points on wafers before they have been diced into separate chips, and film devices are
manufactured by employing tape carrier package (TCP) and chip on film (COF) technology to mount LSI chips directly onto plas-
tic film with printed circuits. These processes contribute to space conservation in mobile devices by allowing more efficient LSI
circuit mounting. And the synergies resulting from these surface mounting technologies support the development of highly func-
tional and compact devices.
THE CASIO ADVANTAGE Our strength in hardware devices forms the basis for strategic partnerships with some of the world’s
leading companies in data communications hardware and software. We intend to use these partnerships for the rapid
development of our Mobile Network Solutions business worldwide, and to build the number one position in mobile information
appliances. Based on this strategy, we will continue to develop attractive products that take full advantage of our capabilities in
LSI design, LCDs and surface mounting, as well as substantial expertise in interfacing developed through years of business in
consumer devices.
Casio’s exclusive HAST modules are
compact, high-resolution and energy-
efficient displays for vivid color images.