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*****For immediate use December 6th, 2000

NEC & Samsung SDI Team-up in Next-Generation Organic EL Display Technology


TOKYO December 6th, 2000 - NEC Corporation (NEC) (NASDAQ: NIPNY, FTSE: 6701q.l, TSE: 6701) and Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. (Samsung SDI) will establish a joint venture company in January 2001 to develop, manufacture and market displays based on organic electroluminescent (organic EL) technology. To be named Samsung NEC Mobile Display Co. Ltd., the new firm will enter the display markets for next-generation mobile terminals based on the IMT-2000 standard, as well as for other systems.

The agreement was signed this morning at a Seoul hotel between Soon-taek Kim , President of Samsung SDI and Kanji Sugihara, President of NEC Electron Devices among an audience of 70 related officials.

Organic EL offers many advantages over conventional display technologies. It provides a high resolution picture on a par with CRT displays, a slimmer and light weight form factor, and faster response time for clearer display of video with much lower power consumption. These features are seen as ideal for next-generation mobile handsets and terminals, car navigation systems and a wide range of other applications.

With an initial capitalization of 9.4 billion Yen (94 billion Won), Samsung SDI and NEC will hold a 51% and 49% stake in the company respectively. Over the following five years, the general capitalization of the company is expected to increase to 50 billion Yen (500 billion Won). Samsung NEC Mobile Display will be headquartered at Samsung SDI's Pusan Plant with development efforts located at Samsung SDI's Suwon and NEC's Sagamihara plants.

Since agreeing to mutual cooperation in this field in July, the partners initiated joint development of full color passive matrix (PM) organic EL displays from September. In the new company's first year of business beginning from 2001, Samsung NEC Mobile Display anticipates it will produce 700,000 full color 2-inch class PM organic EL displays per month at the Pusan plant, rising to 1.5m units per month by 2003.

Samsung NEC Mobile Displays plans to develop active matrix (AM) organic EL displays from 2001 that offer greater resolution and lower power consumption in larger screen sizes. Expectations are for the commercialization of this technology in 2002.

Accordingly, Samsung SDI and NEC forecast that between 30-40% of the more than 300 million IMT-2000 handsets sold in 2005 will use organic EL displays, and that the overall market for the technology at that time will exceed 100 million units per year. The new company aims to take the top market position at that time with a share of 30% and sales of approximately 100 billion Yen (1 trillion Won).

Samsung SDI and NEC had each pursued their own research into organic EL display technology but the partners felt there were greater merits in levering their combined strengths to speed development lead times and make and earlier and more significant impact on the emerging market. Samsung SDI brings a rich array of research talent in mobile display technologies, such as organic EL and STN liquid crystal displays, while NEC brings a core of organic EL technology-related patents and its capabilities with TFT liquid crystal displays. By basing its main manufacturing operations in Korea, the new company will also hold cost advantages, while Samsung SDI also provides a significant customer base thanks to its color CRT business.

About Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
Samsung SDI is a general electronic display device manufacturer and holds the top market share for CRTs, the second largest market share for VFDs (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) and the second largest market share for STN LCDs focused on mobile applications. In the current fiscal year, Samsung SDI expects net sales of 6 trillion Won and pre-tax income of 750 billion Won, as it focuses on development of exciting new business areas such as plasma display panels and next-generation rechargeable batteries. http://samsungsdi.com

About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) (FTSE: 6701q.l) (TSE: 6701) is a leading provider of Internet solutions, dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of its customers in the key computer, network and electron device fields through its three market-focused in-house companies: NEC Solutions, NEC Networks and NEC Electron Devices. NEC Corporation, with its in-house companies, employs more than 150,000 people worldwide and saw net sales of 4,991 billion Yen (approx. US$48 billion) in fiscal year 1999-2000. For further information, please visit the NEC home page at: http://www.nec-global.com

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Media Contacts:
NEC Corporation
Aston Bridgman
Corporate Communications Division
Tel: +81-(0)3-3798-6511
E-mail: a-bridgman@ak.jp.nec.com
Samsung SDI
Hyeongdo Park
Corporate PR Team
Tel: +82-(0)2-727-3640
E-mail: robertro@samsung.co.k

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