NEC to Spend $2.84 Billion to Build Plants

NEC Corp. said it will spend $2.84 billion to build semiconductor plants in Japan and the U.S. to make the cheapest, simplest types of computer memory chips, a move to regain lost market share. Japan’s biggest chip maker said it will spend about $1.4 billion on a plant in Hiroshima for dynamic random access memory chips, most commonly used as the main memories in PCs. The chip maker will also spend about $1.4 billion on a plant in Roseville, Calif., to produce DRAMs and system LSIs, customized multi-functional chips. The chips will be used mainly in networking equipment and mobile phones, a NEC spokesman said. Japanese chip makers are losing ground to South Korean and U.S. chip makers able to sell DRAMs at lower prices.