Osaka, May 10, 2012 - (JCN Newswire) - Panasonic Corporation announced today that it has developed mass production technology for its ALIVH-F (Any Layer Interstitial Via Hole[1]) resin circuit boards which use polyimide film[2] for their substrate. This enables the manufacture of thin profile, high-density, lightweight circuit boards. This development has further advanced the multi-layer resin board ALIVH[3] which has been used as the optimal choice for high-functionality mobile terminals such as smartphones. By reducing thickness by approximately 30%, weight by 35%, and the inter-layer via hole diameter by 25%, it has been possible to increase the circuit density of the board. Sample shipments of the newly developed ALIVH-F are scheduled to start in June 2012, with mass-production planned for December 2012. Panasonic's ALIVH-F is expected to not only reduce board thickness and weight but also enable higher density component packaging. This will allow high-functionality mobile terminals, such as smartphones and tablet terminals, with a thin, compact and lightweight design to be achieved with ease. In some applications, the reduced board area and thickness may be utilized to increase battery capacity. The newly developed ALIVH-F has the following features. (Comparison with the company's previous ALIVH-G product) 1. The any-layer IVH structure employing the same glass-epoxy board material[4] as ALIVH, allows the high density packaging of components to be achieved. 2. A reduction in thickness andweight of the circuit board of approximately 30% and 35% respectively enables lightweight, high-functionality mobile terminals with a thin profile to be designed. 3. Reducing the inter-layer via-hole diameter by approximately 25% and the width andpitch of wiring patterns by approximately 40% enables high-density packaging. The newly developed ALIVH-F was made possible by the following technologies. 1. Material property control technology for reliably filling the newly developed conductive paste in the small-diameter via-holes of 100 micro-m or less. 2. Alignment lamination technology for enabling high-accuracy film lamination. 3. High-accuracy fine-pattern forming technology The ALIVH-F will be exhibited at the JPCAShow to be held in Tokyo Big Site on June 13 to 15, 2012.

[1] Any Layer Interstitial Via HoleThe Structure allowing free positioning of via-holes for electrically connecting layers at any location in the substrate interior.

[2] Polyimide film Polyimide is a collective term for high-molecular materials with imide bonding between their repeating molecular units. Due to its very strong molecular structure, the material delivers extremely high performance when compared to many other high molecular materials. The material shows very high strength, with excellent heat resistivity and electrical insulation properties.Polyimide film is heat-resistant high molecular synthesized film with excellent physical, chemical, and electrical characteristics and very good insulation properties.

[3] ALIVH (Any Layer Interstitial Via Hole) ALIVH is the resin board material developed and commercialized by Panasonic. For the first time, it enables an any-layer IVH (interstitial via hole) structure. It is available as a resin-based multi-layer board and as a film-based multi-layer substrate. Through the adoption of ALIVH in the mobile phones made by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (currently Panasonic Corporation) in October 1996, phones having a weight of 100 g and volume of 100 cc were achieved for the first time in the industry. Subsequently, the use of this material expanded in Japan and abroad to achieve cumulative global shipments equivalent to 480 million units (converted to mobile phones) as of end of March 2012.

[4] Glass-epoxy board material Circuit board material consisting of woven glass fiber cloth impregnated with epoxy resin.

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products for a wide range of consumer, business, and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of 8.69 trillion yen (US$105 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2011. The company's shares are listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and New York (NYSE: PC) stock exchanges. For more information on the company and the Panasonic brand, visit the company's website at http://panasonic.net.

Contact:

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Panasonic Corporation 
Tel: +81-3-6403-3040 
Fax: +81-3-3436-6766

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