TEAC and Pioneer to co-develop laptop DVD drives

TOKYO,
March 15 (Reuters) - TEAC Corp. said on Wednesday it and electronics maker
Pioneer Corp. had agreed to co-develop recordable DVD drives for laptop
computers, in the latest move by Japanese electronics makers to counter
the tough price competition in the industry.

TEAC, a maker of floppy disk and CD-ROM drives, said
in a statement the two companies will work on the details of the agreement
and would also consider expanding their ties to other areas.

Sony Corp. and NEC Corp. in February finalised a plan to set up a
joint venture for optical disk drives that will start operations in April.