If all goes well, such machines will be producing chips commercially within five years.

But since 1988 it has made inroads into the business of producing chips for other companies according to their specifications.

They also jointly own a factory in Texas that produces such chips.

It will not be producing chips until at least 1991.

Such agreements, they say, do not undercut the ability of the Americans to produce chips, and may enhance it.

The best way to produce denser chips is far from certain.

The consortium, however, is not supposed to produce chips for sale.

To produce chips from a design that may have been created by someone at another company.

That technology has been used by many companies to produce high-speed chips.

American officials calculate the Japanese companies' cost of producing chips at approximately $2.50 each.