Category:NEC



NEC Corporation (日本電気株式会社 Nippon Denki Kabushiki Gaisha) was known as Nippon Electric Company, Inc. before their rebranding in the 1980's. During that decade, NEC began developing personal computers, starting with the 8-bit PC-8801, which eventually led them to creating the PC-9801, as well as entering the video games market with the PC Engine (aka TurboGrafx-16) in 1987. The PC Engine did quite well in it's home country, even outselling Nintendo, SNK, and Sega for a time, due to a strong game line-up (through partnering with Hudson Soft) and more powerful hardware than competitors. NEC eventually decided to enter the Western market, where unfortunately their systems floundered, and after both an attempt to bolster sales with a CD attachment, and two failed successors, NEC left the games business and focused on other consumer electronics and technology, primarily (in the west) television displays.