NEC Electronics Corp. will establish its wholly-owned subsidiary named NEC Electronics Korea Ltd. in Seoul, Korea and start its operation on November 1, 2006. The new company will start with about 40 employees, with a plan to increase the number to around 80, primarily technical service representatives, by 2008.

The key factor behind this new company formation is the current rapid growth of the Korean semiconductor market in line with the expanded production of thin panel TVs and digital consumer electronics in Korea. The NEC Electronics group opened NEC Electronics Hong Kong's branch office in Seoul in April 1989, followed by the open of NEC Compound Semiconductor Devices Hong Kong's Seoul branch in July 2001, and has developed its business focusing on LCD driver ICs, LSIs for digital consumer products and optical, microwave semiconductors, among other products. However, in the wake of a rapid growth prospect in sales of microcomputers, power semiconductors and compound semiconductors, in addition to the abovementioned products, NEC Electronics judged that it is indispensable to integrate the existing branch offices into an independent company and fortify its customer service and other systems.