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4. Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. (Formerly Alps Electric Co., Ltd.)
5. Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. (Formerly Alps Electric Co., Ltd.) Business Report FY ended Mar. 2020

Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. (Formerly Alps Electric Co., Ltd.) Business Report FY ended Mar. 2020

First Mid-term Management Plan (April 2019-End of March 2022)

-Targeting sales of JPY 1 trillion and operating profit margin of 10% by 2024.

-Initiatives by line of business:

• Electronic components: The Company will focus on three, core technological areas: HMI, sensors, and connectivity, in addition to integrating software into products.
• Automotive-information systems: The Company is developing systems products that enable end-users to further enjoy their cars; and high, value-added products based on the Company’s expertise acquired over the years at the electronic-component business

Investments

Turned Italian Speaker Manufacturer Faital into Consolidated Subsidiary
-Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. (Alps Alpine) announced that it has raised its stake in Faital S.p.A. (Faital), an Italian luxury speaker maker, from 19.9% to 80% to make the company its consolidated subsidiary. Alps Alpine aims to strengthen development ability, quality, and cost competitiveness for speakers, and propose attractive products in premium fields. The company aims to achieve sales of JPY 1 trillion and operating profit ratio of 10% by the fiscal year that ends in March 2025 as set in its ITC101 mid-term business plan. The company will accelerate synergy effects with Faital to achieve these goals, and aims to strengthen the competitiveness of its sound device business. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on July 4, 2019)

Acquired 10.1% Stockholding in IT Company Freebit Co., Ltd.
-Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. (Alps Alpine) announced that it has acquired a 10.1% stake in FreeBit Co., Ltd. (FreeBit), an information technology company, from Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. and others. Alps Alpine's subsidiary and FreeBit entered into a partnership in the field of connectivity in November 2018. Alps Alpine will accelerate the establishment of a connected service business through the acquisition of shares. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on June 12, 2019)

-The Company forecasts JPY 702.5 billion, or a drop of 13.3% year-on-year, basing this on a forecast that new-vehicle sales will fall 20% year-on-year.

R&D Activities

Electronic Component Business

<Automotive modules>

• Development activities focused on technology in the areas of Human Machine Interface (HMI) and sensing.
• Development of down-sized electronic shifters for touchpads and static-steering-wheel switches, in order to enhance operability of climate-control and audio systems.
• Development of ultra-short-millimeter wave radar

<Automotive Devices>

• Preparations to release the C-V2X (Cellular based Vehicle to X), first in China in 2020.
• Development of hands-off-steering detection sensors based on the Company’s proprietary electrostatic technology.
• Development of diverse, millimeter-wave technology, which detects occupants, objects in the way, and motions, based on high-frequency millimeter-wave technology.
• Advancing development of vehicle-safety/driving-assist systems that combine the Company’s image-processing technology gained from the Company’s years in working on sensors and display devices on electronic mirrors.
• Commercial production of smartphone-entry systems made possible through technology based on high-level-security systems and digital-key systems.
• Developing a variety of products that rely on the migration to high-voltage current sensors and which are smaller and more multifaceted, and precise.
• Development of new, electrostatic-haptic devices with improved designs and better feeling in terms of operational ease.

<Information/Communications Systems>

• Proposals on smart-entry systems that use smartphones for car keys; car-sharing-reservation systems; improvements to the overall driving/riding experience; systems that automatically recommend engine options by detecting the driver’s preferred routes; and seamless smart-mobility systems in which numerous functions have been integrated.

<Other>

• Development of digital keys for car-sharing, which make use of block-chain technology. Acquired stock shares in Freebit, a business in the connected field, to strengthen the MaaS business through forming a commercial alliance on onboard-information management systems.

Product Development

Development of Sensors for Passenger-cars, Jointly with Yokohama Rubber
-Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. (Yokohama Rubber) announced on October 24 that it will jointly develop passenger car tire sensors with Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. (Alps Alpine). The two companies will develop sensors that can detect abrasion and road surfaces, in addition to air pressure. Yokohama Rubber will consider a solution business for the processing and management of data obtained with sensors by processing with digital tools. The company will integrate the expertise of Alps Alpine for the development of sensors, because it is necessary to develop systems and applications for customer feedback. Yokohama Rubber aims to create new added value for tires by utilizing connected technology. On a press day at the Tokyo Motor Show, Masaki Noro, board member and managing officer of Yokohama Rubber, said to the press, “Data obtained with tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) will be utilized for applications other than puncture detection. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on October 25, 2019)

Formed Business Alliance on Haptic Technology with Imersion Based in the USA
-Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. announced that it has signed a cooperative agreement with Immersion Corporation of the U.S. in the field of HAPTIC technology for information communication using the sense of touch. The two companies will combine HAPTIC with human-machine interface including touch input, illumination, and sound, to develop new products. Alps Alpine and Immersion will proceed with discussions on their cooperation in the development of onboard devices using HAPTIC in line with the advancement of connected, autonomous driving, sharing and electrification (CASE) technologies. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on October 12, 2019)

Signed Licensing Agreement with US-based Qualcomm’s Semiconductor Company on Mobile Communications
-On September 5, Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. (Alps Alpine) announced that it has entered a software license agreement with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., to develop and deliver communication modules for next-generation vehicles featuring the Qualcomm Snapdragon Automotive Fifth-Generation Mobile Communication (5G) Platforms. Qualcomm Technologies, a developer of mobile communication technologies, is a subsidiary of Qualcomm, Inc. The aim of this move is to strengthen the development and production of 5G modules. Alps Alpine is focusing on the technology development of 5G, and intends to accelerate the commercialization of onboard communication modules and the development and mass production of integrated communication units. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on September 7, 2019)

Electronic Components Business
-In the fiscal year that ended in March 2020, the company invested to strengthen R&D capabilities on components such as sensors, and to enhance production facilities and equipment.

Automotive Information Systems
-In the fiscal year that ended in March 2020, the Company invested in machinery in order to upgrade and streamline production facilities, and in facilities and equipment mainly to produce dies for new products.
-Outside Japan, the Company invested in production facilities such as at Dalian Alpine Electronics Co., Ltd., a production plant in China.