NXP Semiconductors, one of Europe’s largest chip makers, has decided to drop out of a multiyear research alliance and plans to work more closely with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), the Dutch company said Tuesday.NXP, the former semiconductor division of electronics giant Koninklijke Philips Electronics, cited a desire to forge a new path for its future development of chip production technologies as its reason for opting out of the Crolles2 Alliance, which included other major chip makers such as TSMC, STMicroelectronics and Freescale Semiconductor.Philips and STMicro started the venture with TSMC in 2000 as a way to share the cost of developing advanced chip-production technologies, and renewed the alliance in 2002 when Freescale joined. The group will dissolve the partnership after it completes its current technology project, 45-nanometer production technology, NXP said in a statement.The alliance was formed at a time when companies were concerned about the rising cost of chip development. Several such alliances were forged, including one among IBM, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Infineon Technologies and Samsung Electronics. The latter partnership remains intact. In a separate statement, NXP said it will strengthen its relationship with TSMC, partnering more closely on advanced research in chip-manufacturing technologies. NXP will also put more emphasis on its outsourcing pact, farming out more chip production to TSMC so it can focus on chip design.Philips was an original investor in TSMC, when the Taiwanese powerhouse was just a startup. The two companies have maintained a close relationship ever since, and Philips still holds a large share of TSMC stock, as well as a major stake in NXP. TSMC is the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer.-Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service (Taipei Bureau)Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content opinion Website spoofing: risks, threats, and mitigation strategies for CIOs In this article, we take a look at how CIOs can tackle website spoofing attacks and the best ways to prevent them. By Yash Mehta Dec 01, 2023 5 mins CIO Cyberattacks Security brandpost Sponsored by Catchpoint Systems Inc. Gain full visibility across the Internet Stack with IPM (Internet Performance Monitoring) Today’s IT systems have more points of failure than ever before. Internet Performance Monitoring provides visibility over external networks and services to mitigate outages. By Neal Weinberg Dec 01, 2023 3 mins IT Operations brandpost Sponsored by Zscaler How customers can save money during periods of economic uncertainty Now is the time to overcome the challenges of perimeter-based architectures and reduce costs with zero trust. By Zscaler Dec 01, 2023 4 mins Security feature LexisNexis rises to the generative AI challenge With generative AI, the legal information services giant faces its most formidable disruptor yet. That’s why CTO Jeff Reihl is embracing and enhancing the technology swiftly to keep in front of the competition. By Paula Rooney Dec 01, 2023 6 mins Generative AI Digital Transformation Cloud Computing Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe