NEC and Panasonic today announced the establishment of a new company, ESTEEMO Co., Ltd. . ESTEEMO was established based on an agreement signed by the three parties on July 27, 2006, and will carry out the development of mobile handsets, including the development of a common software and hardware platform.

"The company name has been coined from a combination of the words Esteem and Mobile to signify the establishment by Panasonic and NEC as business partners with mutual esteem for each other, the target of acquiring esteemed customers and of becoming an esteemed company in the market for the development of mobile handsets," the companies said in their press release.