High-Tech Firms Sign Licensing Pacts: Sun Microsystems...

High-Tech Firms Sign Licensing Pacts: Sun Microsystems Inc., which has licensed its semiconductor technology to Taiwanese and Japanese computer companies, has signed a license agreement with N.V. Philips of the Netherlands. Philips, the largest semiconductor manufacturer in Europe, will make 32-bit microprocessors based on Sun’s reduced instruction set computing technology, known as Sparc. And South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. will make chips and computers based on technology from Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard Co., the companies said. Last month, Hewlett-Packard announced a similar deal with Hitachi Ltd.