NEC Corp has firmed up its plans to make personal computers in China, and NEC Shanghai Computers Co Ltd is scheduled to start operations in August, making 20,000 personal computers in the first year, Reuter reports from Tokyo. Annual output will rise to 150,000 units by the year 2000. NEC Shanghai will also develop and manufacture printers, point-of sale terminals, workstations and other computer-related products and over time will start marketing its products in other Asian countries as well as in China. NEC will take 60% of the joint venture, capitalised at $10m; NEC Technologies Hong Kong Ltd will take 10%, and China’s Chiangiang Computer Union Corp Group will take the rest. Products – initially MS-DOS and Windows desktop and notebook computers – will be distributed through Chiangiang’s existing channels in China. NEC Shanghai will be China’s first Japanese-controlled computer manufacturer; Compaq Computer Corp, IBM Corp and AST Research Inc are already manufacturing there.
