Alaxala Networks joint venture to ship gigabit router, multilevel switches Alaxala Networks Corp., the backbone-network router and switch joint venture announced by Hitachi Ltd. and NEC Corp. earlier this year, began operations on Friday, it said in a statement.The new company will handle the development, design and manufacture of the networking products, selling them to Hitachi and NEC, and also through distributors under its own name.Alaxala begins operations with three products: the AX7800R high-end gigabit router, the AX7800S high-end multilevel switch and the AX5400S mid-range multilevel switch. Hitachi and NEC both announced the Alaxala products under their respective brands and with their own model numbers on Friday. Hitachi will put the gigabit router on sale from Friday and the other two products on sale from December, while NEC will sell all three from December, they said in statements. At a news conference in June held to announce the agreement to form the joint venture, Hitachi executive vice president Isao Ono said the parent companies hope the venture will achieve sales of ¥40 billion ($364 million) in fiscal year 2005, which begins in April next year.Hitachi owns 60 percent of the company and NEC holds the remaining 40 percent stake. The company is headquartered in Kawasaki City in Kanagawa prefecture, south-west of Tokyo, and employs 320 people. Technology Industry