Sunext Technology, a subsidiary of Sunplus Technology, and Philips today announced on March 13 that they have completed an agreement relating to the transfer of Philips Optical Disc Drive (ODD) semiconductor technology and licensing of related patents.

The technology license granted to Sunext is exclusive in the area of the design, implementation, manufacture and sale of IC's and solutions for PC ODD and Home Entertainment DVD Recorders. Related Philips patents are licensed on a non-exclusive basis.

Sunext will sell and support products produced with the Philips ODD technology transferred by this agreement under the Sunext brand name. DVD recordable semiconductor products are available immediately, are currently in high volume production with leading ODD suppliers and are in use by major PC OEMs. Blue laser recordable products are sampling today and are expected to be in volume production by mid-2006. As part of the agreement, Philips shall also receive a minority share in Sunext.

"We are excited by the opportunities created by this partnership between Philips and Sunext. We expect that the joining of both companies' technical and market strengths will create exciting products and increase sales to the IT and Consumer markets beyond what either company could achieve alone." said Giel Rutten, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Philips Semiconductor, Home Business Unit.