| Press Release *****For immediate use January 28th, 2002 NEC Achieves Key Milestone; Ships Two Million USB 2.0 Host ControllersSANTA CLARA, Calif., and TOKYO, January 28, 2002 - NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) and its wholly owned subsidiary in the United States, NEC Electronics Inc., today announced it has shipped more than two million units of its Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 host controller (µPD720100A). This milestone was achieved just 10 months after the availability of production-qualified devices, and to date, more than 100 companies worldwide have incorporated NEC's USB 2.0 solution into their designs. NEC attributes the rapid industry adoption of its USB 2.0 host controller, the first solution of its kind in the marketplace, to the need for a high-speed solution to connect personal computers (PCs) with high-performance peripherals and broadband Internet services. NEC anticipates the USB 2.0 market potential will continue to grow in 2002 with estimated shipments of 20 million NEC USB 2.0 products. "Strong customer acceptance of NEC's USB 2.0 host controller continues to validate the strength of the solution and our ability to provide the best value to our customers," said Hiroshi Yakabe, senior marketing manager for the Computing I/O Technology Group at NEC Electronics Inc. "Going forward, NEC will maintain its commitment to provide high-quality USB 2.0 solutions with enhancements to the host controllers, hub controllers, IDE bridges and device controllers in our product line-up as well as the introduction of new USB 2.0 solutions." With increasing frequency, NEC's USB 2.0 host controller is being designed into applications such as desktop and notebook PCs. NEC received orders for an additional two million host-controller units from major motherboard manufacturers primarily for desktop PCs in the first quarter of 2002 alone. Furthermore, the adoption of USB 2.0 host controllers for notebook PCs is also accelerating, and NEC expects demand for this product to reach 10 million units in 2002 from this market alone- approximately half of NEC's anticipated total USB 2.0 product shipments for the year. About NEC USB 2.0 Products NEC introduced the industry's first USB 2.0-compliant host controller, hub controller and physical layer (PHY) device, and is a leading semiconductor manufacturer to provide a total USB 2.0 solution. As a result of NEC's position as a leading innovator of semiconductor solutions for the USB 2.0 standard, many third-party vendors have produced USB 2.0 drivers and reference designs based on NEC's devices. NEC plans to deliver additional products based on USB 2.0, a standard that promotes an operating speed of 480 megabits per second (Mbps), a forty-fold increase in bandwidth compared to the USB 1.1 standard. NEC is a core member of the USB Implementers' Forum (USB-IF), a key organization promoting the widespread acceptance of USB throughout the industry. About NEC Corporation NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) 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 approximately $43 billion in fiscal year 2000-2001. For further information, please visit the NEC home page at: http://www.nec.com. About NEC Electronics Inc. NEC Electronics Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., is one of the leading developers, manufacturers and suppliers of semiconductor products in the United States. Committed to meeting customers' cost, performance and time-to-market requirements, the company offers solutions ranging from standard products, including electron components, to system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions, as well as customized products for next-generation designs. NEC Electronics also offers customers the benefit of a local manufacturing facility in Roseville, Calif., and the global manufacturing capabilities of its parent company, NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY). For more information about products offered by NEC Electronics Inc., please visit the NEC Electronics web site at http://www.necel.com. *** Press Contacts: |
