NEC: Press Release 2000/4/28-01

Press Release

*****For immediate use April 28^th, 2000

NEC Opens the World's Most Advanced System LSI Fabrication Plant

TOKYO April 28^th, 2000 - NEC Corporation (NEC) (NASDAQ: NIPNY) (FTSE: 6701q.l) and NEC Yamagata, Ltd. (NEC Yamagata) today officially opened the world's most advanced fabrication plant for the production of system large scale integrated circuits (LSI) at Tsuruoka in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan.

The new plant, "Fab 5", housed in a 21,000 square meter, 3-story steel frame concrete structure, with a 9,000 square meter clean room on the second and third stories, is the first semiconductor mass production facility in the world to utilize 0.13-micron process technology. From May, the new plant will also introduce copper circuit technology to its arsenal of production techniques that will enable products offering the highest possible performance and reliability. The 8-inch wafer plant has a production capability of 6,000 wafers per month and all together represents a total investment of 78 billion Yen.

The rapid rise of the Internet through the last decade is creating deep, ongoing changes in the economy and society as a whole. Digital broadcasting, next generation mobile communications, home networks and other next-generation platforms are making their appearance, expanding access to the Internet from personal computers to televisions, game machines, mobile terminals, automobiles and many other areas of our lives. These terminal devices and the networks they are connected to, all increasingly require higher computing performance and greater cost effectiveness from system LSIs.

Committed to supporting the development of information terminals for the Internet society, such as mobile phones and set top boxes, NEC is putting an aggressive effort into development and expansion of its Internet-related system LSI business. To meet these goals, NEC will invest an additional 82 billion Yen in Fab 5 for production of devices using copper circuitry as well as for 0.10-micron fabrication equipment in a 5,000 square meter sector of the clean room. Together, these measures will augment the Plant's ability to meet strong, anticipated demand for system LSIs and raise the plant's total capacity to a planned 20,000 wafers per month by 2002.

To effectively take advantage of the increasingly favorable semiconductor market across its business, NEC will invest a total of 200 billion Yen in its semiconductor operations during the current fiscal year (ending March 31, 2001), an increase of 50 billion Yen from the previous fiscal year. Investment in NEC Yamagata during this period is budgeted for 20 billion Yen.

Fab 5 boasts several features. It was established in only half of the time taken to establish a mass production line using conventional techniques, one of the fastest times in the world, thanks to the efforts of NEC engineers and, in particular, to equipment manufacturers working in a 24-hour a day cycle.

Another feature of the plant is its accelerated management and wafer transportation systems that, together with the use of advanced production processes, aim to greatly reduce production lead times for system LSIs and achieve the fastest lead times in any such plant in the world.

Thanks to its high energy efficiency through the use of energy co-generation and to zero-emission of waste materials that enables Fab 5 to avoid placing any environmental burden on the local region, as well as NEC Yamagata's policy to exchange environment-related information, pursue "green" procurement and support the local community, Fab 5 aims to ultimately achieve "Eco Factory" status.

For these achievements, NEC and NEC Yamagata would like to convey their sincere appreciation to local people for their cooperation. In return, the companies aim to play a major role in supporting life and the community in the region through the worldwide role the plant is expected to play.

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                        Media Contact:
                        Aston Bridgman
                        NEC Corporation
                        TEL   :+81-3-3798-6511
                        FAX   :+81-3-3457-7249
                        E-mail:Aston_Bridgman@HO-PRD.ccgw.nec.co.jp