NEC Corp’s NEC Industries unit bas won a Prime-2 short term rating from Moody’s Investors Service Inc for its issue of up to $150m of commercial paper. NEC presently dominates the Japanese personal computer market with more than 50% market share but personal computers have become low margin products and NEC will be facing increasing price competition from new overseas competitors, Moody’s said, adding that while NEC is expected to remain a leader in semiconductors, increased global competition and the strength of the yen will have an adverse near to intermediate term affect on the company’s operating performance and debt protection measurements.
