May 14, 2009
NEC will continue its supercomputer business
TOKYO, May 14 -- NEC Corporation announced today that it will not extend its current contract into the manufacturing phase of the "Development and Use of an Advanced, High-Performance, General-Purpose Supercomputer" project (Next-Generation Supercomputer Project) by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), following the completion of its role as a co-development partner in the detail design phase. NEC will continue to contribute to various aspects of the project, including architectural research for fast computing, and development support for application software, in cooperation with a range of research institutions.
NEC will also continue to develop and provide some of the world's most advanced supercomputer systems through its ongoing development of vector technologies.
NEC is considering a wide variety of options, including project review and restructuring, in order to raise revenue and successfully navigate the considerable market changes that are expected to emerge from today's worldwide economic crisis as a part of middle and long term strategic plans.
NEC estimated that costs for moving forward with the manufacturing phase of the Next-Generation Supercomputer Project would significantly impact earnings for the fiscal year ending in March 2010, due to extensive investment required for the computer's manufacturing. Therefore, NEC has decided not to participate in the project's manufacturing phase.
NEC has been responsible for the detailed design of the Next-Generation Supercomputer Project's vector division since RIKEN finalized the system configuration in September 2007. NEC will now contribute to the project through the application of new vector architecture and optical interconnect technologies completed during the designing phase, in addition to architectural research for rapid computing, development, education and operational support for application software with universities and research institutions.
In recent years, general purpose hybrid supercomputer systems have been introduced through a combination of vector and scalar type supercomputers that share optimized computational resources.
This general purpose hybrid supercomputer system, which effectively computes by capitalizing on the features and applications of two supercomputers, will be an effective resolution for upcoming issues, such as development costs from a vast increase in LSI processes, and the rapid increase in power consumption for maintaining computer performance. NEC will continue to produce the most suitable next generation of high performance computers (HPC) that consume less power and energy through the development of HPC architecture, application software and vector technologies.
Looking forward into the cloud computing era, the most advanced technologies and know-how developed by HPC will be crucial for maintaining technological supremacy throughout world markets. Based on these technologies, know-how and technological resources, NEC will develop and provide exciting new platforms for the cloud computing era.
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation is one of the world's leading providers of Internet, broadband network and enterprise business solutions dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of a diversified global base of customers. NEC delivers tailored solutions in the key fields of computer, networking and electron devices, by integrating its technical strengths in IT and Networks, and by providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NEC Electronics Corporation. The NEC Group employs more than 150,000 people worldwide. For additional information, visit the NEC Web site at http://www.nec.com.
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Source: NEC Corp.
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