NEC SERIOUS ABOUT DOLPHIN
October 18, 1999

Showing the increased strength of the gaming industry and the need for higher volume of chips, NEC today announced it will spend 80 billion yen (approximately $750 million U.S.) to build a new factory to produce microchips for Nintendo's upcoming Project Dolphin.

The new production plant will be located in southern Japan, with construction set to begin in August, 2000, the same month in which Nintendo is expected to release official details of the Dolphin (more).

As all these pieces fall into place, it's clear that the "target date" for Project Dolphin of 2000 is becoming more and more unlikely and that Nintendo should just tell us it'll be released in 2001 and get it over with (they'll have to do it eventually anyway).

At the current time, NEC is in a sales slump and is cutting back costs. Last year, NEC chip sales fell by 12%, and the company is prepared to eliminate 15,000 jobs during the next three years. However, with this investment aimed at Dolphin chip production, it seems as though NEC has faith in Nintendo's potential success with the machine, and is willing to spend big to make sure they've got a piece of the pie.

"All of the chips made at the new plant will probably be sold to Nintendo after it launches its new game machine," Kanji Sugihara, NEC senior vice president, told a news conference.

On a side note, NEC also announced that it has received a 300 billion yen chip order from Nintendo. It's clear from the size of the investment from both companies that Dolphin expectations are running high and NEC's chips will play a pivotal role in this success.

Source: Video Game Heaven.com