On Semiconductor Labs to Research Energy Savings

On Semiconductor will open two laboratories for research into energy-saving technologies, the company and its partners announced Friday.

On will join with two companies in southwestern China’s Sichuan province—electronics and appliance manufacturer Sichuan Changhong Electric (Changhong) and set-top box maker Sichuan Jinwangtong Electronic Science and Technology (Kingvon)—to find ways to reduce power consumption in their respective products.

Each Chinese partner will host its respective lab, with Kingvon’s in the provincial capital of Chengdu, and Changhong’s in the western Sichuan city of Mianyang. Changhong is one of China’s largest manufacturers of appliances and electronics, both for domestic and international markets. Kingvon is China’s largest set-top box maker.

Power consumption and its reduction have become major issues in increasingly affluent China, with power needs for enterprises and consumers climbing, and exacerbated by rising fuel costs.

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— Steven Schwankert, IDG News Service