Several major Japanese chipmakers have decided to have staff give up their New Year holidays to meet a demand surge stemming from spirited sales of digital home appliances.

Toshiba Corp., NEC Electronics Corp., Fujitsu Ltd., Sony Corp., Elpida Memory Inc. and Renesas Technology Corp. are asking staff to give up part or all of their time off to meet the greater demand for such goods as DVD recorders, digital cameras and cell phones.