Japanese NEC announced on March 24 that it will invest two billion Yen (US$20.1 million; US$1=99.7 Yen) in its plant in Nakatsu, Oita Prefecture, Japan, in a bid to enhance production capacity of chips for use in automotive microcomputers and SoC (System-on-Chip) products, according to Jiji Press.

With an estimated capacity of one million units per month, the new plant is scheduled to start mass production in the second half of 2009. Should the demand for chips increase, the company plans to further enhance its production capacity at this site, according to the same report.