NEC Company Brief











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Company Brief
NEC

by Brady Hicks

Docid: 00014703

Publication Date: 2101

Report Type: VENDOR

Preview

NEC is a Japanese conglomerate that manufactures computer systems, networking
components, semiconductors, application software, mobile platforms, and display
systems, among other products. The company has almost 113,000 employees
(2020) and operates 300 group companies, worldwide. NEC organizes its operations into Public
Solutions, Public Infrastructure,
Enterprise, Global, System Platform, and Network Services business units. This brief examines
NEC in greater detail.

Report Contents:

Fast Facts

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Name: NEC
Headquarters
5-7-1, Shiba, Minato
Tokyo 108-8001, Japan
+81-3-3454-1111

Fax:
+81-3-3798-1510
Web:
http://www.nec.com/

Type of Vendor:
Telecom Equipment, IT, Electronics, Appliances
Employees (including subsidiaries):
112,638 (2020)
Founded:
1899 (Nippon Electric Company)
Service Areas: Worldwide
Stock Symbol: 6701  (Tokyo Stock Exchange)


Description

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NEC is a Japanese IT products and services provider that focuses on
orchestrating a brighter world. This Tokyo-based, multi-national conglomerate
manufactures computer systems, network equipment, semiconductors, application
software, mobile platforms, and display systems, among other types of products.
The company has nearly 113,000 employees across 300 group companies (2020).

NEC seeks to advance
social infrastructure by leveraging ICT (information and communications
technology) across five business models, as listed in Table 1.

Table 1. Business Models
Business Description
Public
Solutions Business
Businesses involving regional sales functions
and regional government entities in Japan
Public Infrastructure Business

Businesses involving government organizations and enterprises supporting
national and social infrastructure

Enterprise
Business

IT solutions in manufacturing, retail and services, and finance in the
private sector, helping customers to launch new services

Global Business Biometric solutions, software services for
service providers, and energy storage solutions

System Platform
Business

Terminals, network and computer equipment,
software products, and other products for business, as well as
maintenance services
Network Services Business Network control platform systems and operating
services for operations management, along with equipment for network
implementation

NEC also operates separate regional companies such
as NEC Corporation of America, NEC Europe, NEC Asia Pacific, NEC Latin America,
and NEC (China).

Strategy

NEC aims for sustained growth for society and business through efforts to
increase its corporate value, practice the "NEC Way," and bring satisfaction to
all stakeholders, including investors, customers, communities, and employees.
The company’s strategy is to be a leading global company that "leverages the power of
innovation to realize an information society." The company focuses on "Orchestrating a brighter
world" that is "committed to creating social value"; offering "Solutions
for Society"; and utilizing ICT (information and communications technology).
Individual business strategies include:

  • Public Solutions – Provide IT and network systems for local
    governments and medical institutions, and also oversee local branches
    across Japan to develop business with close ties to each region.
  • Public Infrastructure Business – Provide social
    infrastructure that allows for everyone to have a safe and comfortable
    lifestyle, in the form of large-scale mission critical systems and
    network systems for governments, governmental agencies, local
    governments, broadcasting stations, and power companies.
  • Enterprise Business – Develop cutting-edge technology and promote
    co-creation with customers in order to connect people, goods, and processes,
    reaching across the boundaries between enterprises and industries to create
    new value across the entire value chain.
  • Global Business – Utilize cutting-edge technology such as AI and
    IoT in order to contribute to realizing a safe, secure, efficient, and equal
    society, as well as for solving social issues.
  • System Platform Business – Establish platforms
    utilizing NEC strengths such as AI (artificial intelligence), IoT (Internet
    of Things) image analysis, and cybersecurity, and contribute to solving
    customers’ issues.
  • Network Services Business – Leverage the network strengths and
    capabilities cultivated in the telecom carrier market across to other
    industry sectors, including service providers, manufacturers, distribution
    and service industries, and government agencies.

History

NEC has its roots in the Nippon Electric Company,
which was established in 1899 as part of a joint venture between a group of
Japanese investors and Western Electric. Key moments in the company’s history
include:

  • 1899
    Is founded as an importer of telephone equipment.
  • 1925 – Sees Western Electric relinquish its stake.
  • 1949 – Offers its first IPO.
  • 1963
    Establishes Nippon Electric New York, which is now known as NEC Corporation
    of America.
  • 1983
    Is renamed as “NEC.”
  • 1995 – Acquires a 20% stake in Packard Bell, later merging the majority of its PC
    business unit with it to form “Packard Bell NEC.” This unit is
    ultimately dropped.
  • 2000 – Begins a restructuring initiative whereby it
    is divided into several
    self-governed units.
  • 2001 – Spins off Eulix Networks to sell DeltaX switches.
  • 2002
    Spins off NEC Electronics.
  • 2003 – Helps establish the CE Linux Forum.
  • 2004 – Introduces a facial-recognition algorithm to verify a person’s identity
    regardless of pose or background quality.
  • 2005
    Files a European Commission complaint against QUALCOMM over alleged
    anti-competitive conduct in the licensing of patents for 3G mobile
    technology.
  • 2006 – Sells its Packard Bell subsidiary.
  • 2007
    Merges the NES Solutions Group with the NEC Software Development Group to
    form Systems Integration and Software Development.
  • 2009
    Consolidates NEC Corporation of America, NEC Unified Solutions, and NEC Infrontia as NEC Corporation of America.
  • 2010
    Announces a streamlined organizational structure that includes segments for
    IT Services, Platforms, Carrier Networks, Social Infrastructure, and
    Personal Solutions.
  • 2011
    Establishes a joint venture, with Lenovo, to create PCs.
  • 2012
    Announces plans to lay off approximately 10,000 employees worldwide.
  • 2013 – Appoints Shinsuke Takahashi as President and CEO, NEC Corporation of
    America.
  • 2014
    Acquires A123 Energy Solutions for $100 million to expand its smart energy business’ energy
    storage capability.
  • 2015 – Unveils its new “Orchestrating a
    Brighter World”
    brand
    statement.
  • 2016 – Announces that Takashi Niino will take over as President and
    CEO, and that Nobuhiro Endo will become company Chairman, both effective in
    April … Establishes its “NEC the WISE” brand for AI (artificial
    intelligence) technology.
  • 2017 – Announces plans to revise its business segments
    in 2018, including Public (Public Solutions and Public Infrastructure);
    Enterprise; Telecom Carrier; System Platform; and Other (Global, System
    Integration, Services, Engineering, and all other areas of business) …
    Also merges Corporate Sales and Sales Operations in Japan with its Public
    unit, and transfers its financial institutions business to the Enterprise
    unit.
  • 2018 – Reveals plans to acquire IT services firm
    Northgate Public Services … Reveals plans to streamline its workforce by
    3,000 to improve its profit structure.
  • 2019 – Acquires KMD Holding at a $1.22 billion
    investment … Announces a new organizational structure that includes the
    Public, Enterprise, Network Services, System Platform, and Global segments.
  • 2020 – Works with Fujitsu and NTT DOCOMO to establish carrier
    aggregation using 5G bands in a multi-vendor RAN (radio access network).
  • 2021 – Sees Northgate Public Services enter into an agreement to
    purchase Charter Systems.

Key Executives

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NEC’s current executive structure includes:

President and CEO: Takashi Niino

Chairman:
Nobuhiro Endo

Chiefs include:

  • CFO: Takayuki Morita
  • CDO:
    Chikara Ishii
  • CTO:
    Motoo Nishihara
  • CIO and CISO:
    Hiroshi Kodama
  • CHRO: Hajime Matsukura
  • CMO: Makoto Enomoto
  • CLCO: Shinobu Obata
  • CSCO: Shigeki Shimizu

Group Presidents include:

  • Global: Akihiko Kumagai
  • System Platform:
    Tomoyasu Nishimura
  • Public Infrastructure:
    Noritaka Taguma
  • Network Services: Atsuo Kawamura
  • Public Solutions: Chikara Nakamata
  • Enterprise:
    Kazuhiro Sakai

Major Products

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NEC tends to focus on offering computers, data storage options, embedded
systems, fiber optic devices, integrated IT infrastructure, network products,
and software, as detailed in Table 2.

Table 2. NEC’s Products and Services
Product / Service Type Major Products and Services
Computer Servers, business and industrial computers,
thin client solutions
Data Storage SAN, tape-based, and scale-out grid storage
solutions
Embedded Systems EMI suppression and design for power
integrity, IC package, and LSI
Integrated IT Infrastructure Various solution platforms
Network Products Solutions for SDN/NFV, traffic management,
operation and management, mobile backhaul "PASOLINK," small cells,
submarine systems, converged packet optical transport, backbone DWDM
systems, metro WDM systems, packet transport, digital network
transformation, UC, and vEPC
Software IoT platform, BC/DR "EXPRESSCLUSTER X," file-server management, InfoCage
Unauthorized Connection Blocker, ERP, integrated administration software, PLM
"Obbligato," SaaS, "WebOTX" service execution, software OEM products, "UNIVERGE"
UCC, and "InfoCage SiteShell" Web application firewall
Unified Communications UC solutions, tools, and collaboration, conferencing, and messaging products for
seamless communications.

Major Competitors

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NEC has many different competitors, both domestic
and overseas, ranging from large, multi-national corporations to small,
rapidly-growing, specialized companies. These include:

Recent Activity

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NEC’s past-year activity has included:

  • January 2021 – Supports the 100Gbps Palau Cable 2 submarine cable
    … Sees Northgate Public Services enter into an agreement to purchase
    Charter Systems.
  • December 2020 – Collaborates with the government of Bihar, India
    to develop preventative healthcare technology … Completes a flagship
    optical submarine cable system to connect Chennai, India and the Anaman &
    Nicobar Islands … Collaborates with Osaka Unviersity’s Cybermedia Center
    to introduce a cloud-linked HPC and HPDA supercomputer system …
    Establishes an Open RAN laboratory in India.
  • November – Launches Open RAN Center of Excellence in London …
    Transfers and leases housing at the Sagamihara Plant in Kanagawa, Japan, to
    Hulic … Builds a "confidential" computing system that employs Intel SGX
    technology and the Fortanix Confidential Computing Enclave Manager.
  • October – Acquires Swiss financial software company Avaloq Group.
  • September – With Fujitsu and NTT DOCOMO, announces carrier
    aggregation using 5G frequency bands in a multi-vendor RAN (radio access
    network) … Partners with OBAYASHI, Japan Industrial Partners, Japan
    Investment Advisor, ITOCHU Techno-Solutions, and AOI Fund 1 to establish the
    BIRD INITIATIVE for business innovation powered by R&D.
  • August – Sees Bangsoft enter into an agreement to acquire
    software firm Concent.
  • July – Teams with Toshiba and other companies to establish R&D
    activity with the Global Quantum Cryptography Communications Network …
    Collaborates with Realeyes to develop and distribute emotion analysis
    technology … Appoints Ikuo Matsuhashi as Corporate Executive … Partners
    with SITA to develop joint technology for airports … Previews new
    organizational structure, including revision of its operations into six
    segments.
  • June – Teams with NTT to establish capital and business alliance
    for joint R&D … Was selected to construct a 9,400-kilometer undersea cable
    connecting China, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
  • April – Established a global strategic partnership with
    Intermedia to launch NEC UNIVERGE BLUE CONNECT, an integrated UCaaS (Unified
    Communications-as-a-Service), and UNIVERGE BLUE ENGAGE CCaaS (Contact
    Center-as-a-Service) … Unveils the NUC 9 Extreme Kit.
  • March – Combines NEC Display Solutions with Sharp as a joint
    venture … Collaborates with Konica Minolta to promote digital
    transformation technology … Collaborates with Siemens on IoT (Internet of
    Things) technology for monitoring and analysis … Demonstrates real-time
    digital wireless OAM (orbital angular momentum) mode multiplex radio
    transmission and bi-directional, 10Gbps outdoor transmission.
  • February – Aligns with Cisco to strengthen processes for
    confirming network equipment authenticity … Partners with Accedian to
    focus on providing advanced performance-monitoring, analytics, and network
    visibility services.

Financials

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Table 3 compares NEC’s overall financial performance
for the recent past fiscal years.

Table 3. Fiscal Year Financial Comparison
  2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Revenues JPY3.1 trillion JPY2.9 trillion JPY2.8 trillion JPY2.7 trillion JPY2.8 trillion
Profits JPY124 billion JPY78 billion JPY60 billion JPY27 billion JPY69 billion

About the Author

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Brady Hicks is an
editor with Faulkner Information Services. He writes about computer and
networking hardware, software, communications networks and equipment, and the
Internet.

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