History (1989): NEC, Discreet Japanese Force on Storage

Everyone involved in industry knows Seagate, Imprimis, Miniscribe, Microsclence or Micropolis and are well-informed on these companies that publish their financial results every quarter.

NEC is much more discreet. And the results of each of its activity are drowned in those of the multinational.

However, this Japanese company is a major magnetic and optical storage unit manufacturer throughout the world, with an annual turnover close to $1 billion.

Founded in Japan in 1899, NEC Corporation employs over 100,000 people worldwide, and reported revenues of ¥2,715 billion in its last known fiscal year from April 1987 to March 1988. It forecasts ¥3,000 billion for its fiscal year ending March 1989.

Sales are shared between computer business (42%), telecommunication (28%), components (17%), electronics (8%) and other various activities (5%).

In the computer market, NEC manufactures the entire range of computers: HPCs like the SX-A series; mainframes also available in Honeywell and Bull’s catalog; mini- and micro-computers. It is the leader in the Japanese microcomputer market. As of September 1987, it announced an IBM compatible laptop computer with a 3.5-inch 20MB HDD.

At last Comdex, NEC Home Electronics (USA) Inc. (Wood Dale, IL) launched a new concept called UltraLite’s storage technology to provide the equivalent of up to 6MB of mass storage in a laptop computer weighing under 5lbs. It combines a silicon HDD, ROM cards, plus a system containing MS-DOS system files and two utilities, and finally a 3.5-inch 1.44MB FDD.

NEC engineers anticipate incorporating in 1989 up to 15MB of mass storage through modular silicon disks and ROM cards.

$1 billion for storage units
A NEC’s official spokesman reports that NEC’s Peripheral Division sales amounted to about $1 billion in its last fiscal year for magnetic tapes and disks as well as for optical discs. These figures include captive market and OEM sales. About 80% of the total sales come from HDDs. 60% goes for captive market and 40% for OEM sales that should be growing. SCSI models make up 20 to 30%.

For European sales, there are four direct subsidiaries, NEC Deutschland, NEC Scandinavia, NEC (UK) and NEC France, a recently formed company to replace NEC Business Systems France that was only a branch of the Munich, Germany, firm. The French subsidiary should make FF143 million for the sales of HDDs from April 88 to March 89.

American distribution goes through NEC Information Systems, Inc. (Boxborough, MA).

A complete line of disk drives
For disk storage, NEC’s line of products is one of the most complete. In addition to 3.5-, 5.25- and 8-inch FDDs, it also includes 3.5-inch HDDs with capacities of up to 134MB, 5.25-inch drives reaching 180MB in half-height format and 765MB in full-height.

First shipments began for 5.25-inch half-height 170MB HDDs with ESDI interface and full-height 380MB drives with ESDI and SCSI interfaces.

NEC also offers 8-inch units (it almost quit producing) but more specially 520MB to 1.4GB 9-inch ones. You can’t expect more.

Among its large OEM customers in 9-inch format, there are in particular Nixdorf, Siemens, and Tandem.

The Japanese company also manufactures drives for CD-ROMs and is working on optical WORM discs, but just in Japan.

Relying on its know-how in electronic components, NEC has strong faith in electronic disks. At last Hannover Fair, prototypes of semiconductor memories of 20 and 40MB in 5.25-inch form factor were discreetly shown by NEC Deutschland GmbH.

Finally NEC manufactures magnetic tape and 3480 cartridge drives and quarter-inch HDDs for its own computers.

The Japanese company is actually also working on a 12MB FDD with a metal disk.

NEC’s FDDs

100,000 HDDs a month
NEC’s HDDs are produced in a plant in Ibaraki (Japan). Monthly output reaches 4,000 to 5,000 drives in 9-inch format, and about 100,000 in 3.5-and 5.25-inch one, 65% in 3.5-inches. Of the total output, 60% goes overseas, with the US and Europe as major markets. NEC also produces the magnetic platters.

NEC’s HDDs

Most of the FDDs are produced in Gunma, Japan. The Asian company is regarded as the third FDD manufacturer of the country.

This article is an abstract of news published on the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter on issue ≠15, published on April 1989.