Tokyo - Japanese electronics companies Toshiba Corp and NEC Electronics Corp agreed to join an IBM Corp alliance to expand development of next-generation chips, Toshiba said Thursday.

The project involves technologies for faster processing speed and lower-battery life for smartphones and other communication devices, the companies said.

Advanced chips for large-scale integration circuits for the 28-nanometer generation will "dramatically enhance the product's density, performance, as well as power consumption compared to the former 40nm node," NEC Electronics senior vice president Masao Fukuma said in a statement.

Toshiba aims to mass produce and market products using the 28-nanometer technology in fiscal 2010, a company official said.

The two Japanese companies will join a technology alliance IBM has formed at its New York facility with five other firms including Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd and Samsung Electronics Co in April.

Toshiba joined the IBM business alliance for the advanced chip technology development in December 2007 and NEC in September 2008.(dpa)