IBM and Samsung Electronics Co will jointly develop new semiconductor technology to be used in smartphones and other new gadgets, the companies said on Wednesday.

International Business Machines Corp and Samsung plan to research new chip materials and improvements in process technology, to develop smaller and more energy efficient semiconductor products, they said.

The step comes as more consumers and office workers are using mobile phones and tablet computers for Web access, leading to demand for new kinds of semiconductor technologies.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Richard Chang)

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