Company Information

Risk Factors

The NEC Group's business is subject to many kinds of risks. The principal risks affecting the NEC Group's business are described briefly below.

1. Risks related to economic conditions and financial markets

(1) Influence of economic conditions

The NEC Group's business is dependent, to a significant extent, on the Japanese market. The NEC Group's sales to customers in Japan accounted for 84.1% of its total net sales in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012. While it is expected that the Japanese economy will grow steadily due to demand related to the recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011, economic uncertainty remains due to factors such as the weak foreign demand accompanied by the stagnant European economy and appreciation of the yen. A delayed economic recovery could have a material adverse effect not only on the NEC Group's business operations directly but also on the NEC Group's operations' results and financial conditions due to an adverse effect on the NEC Group's affiliated companies. The NEC Group's business is also influenced by the economic conditions of countries and regions including Asia, Europe and the United States in which the NEC Group operates its business.

Uncertainties in the economy make it difficult to forecast future levels of economic activity. Because the components of the NEC Group's planning and forecasting depend upon estimates of economic activity in the markets that the NEC Group serves, the prevailing economic uncertainty makes it more difficult than usual to estimate its future income and required expenditures. If the NEC Group is mistaken in its planning and forecasting, there is a possibility that the NEC Group will not be able to appropriately respond to the changing market conditions.

(2) Volatile nature of markets

Markets for some of the NEC Group's products, including mobile handsets and electronic devices, are highly volatile. Downturns have been characterized by diminished demand, obsolete products, excess inventories, accelerated erosion of prices, and periodic overproduction. The volatile nature of the relevant markets may lead to future recurrences of downturns with similar or more adverse effects on the NEC Group's results of operations.

(3) Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange and interest rate

The NEC Group is exposed to risks of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. The NEC Group's consolidated financial statements, which are presented in Japanese yen, are affected by fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. Changes in exchange rates affect the yen value of the NEC Group's equity investments and monetary assets and liabilities arising from business transactions in foreign currencies. They also affect the costs and sales proceeds of products or services that are denominated in foreign currencies. Despite measures undertaken by the NEC Group to reduce, or hedge against, foreign currency exchange risks, foreign exchange rate fluctuations may hurt the NEC Group's business, results of operations and financial condition. Depending on the movements of particular foreign exchange rates, the NEC Group may be adversely affected at a time when the same currency movements are benefiting some of its competitors.

The NEC Group is also exposed to risks of interest rate fluctuations, which may affect its overall operational costs and the value of its financial assets and liabilities, in particular, long-term debt. Despite measures undertaken by the NEC Group to hedge a portion of its exposure against interest rate fluctuations, such fluctuations may increase the NEC Group's operational costs, reduce the value of its financial assets, or increase the value of its liabilities.

2. Risks related to the NEC Group's Management Policy

(1) Finance and profit fluctuations

The NEC Group's results of operations for any quarter or year are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected in future periods. The NEC Group's results of operations have historically been, and will continue to be, subject to quarterly and yearly fluctuations as a result of a number of factors, including:

• the introduction and market acceptance of new technologies, products, and services;
• variations in product costs, and the mix of products sold;
• the size and timing of customer orders, which in turn will often depend upon the success of customers' businesses or specific products or services;
• the impact of acquired businesses and technologies;
• manufacturing capacity and lead times; and
• fixed costs.

There are other trends and factors beyond the NEC Group's control which may affect its results of operations, and make it difficult to predict results of operations for a particular period. These include:

• adverse changes in the market conditions for the products and services that the NEC Group offers;
• governmental decisions regarding the development and deployment of IT and communications infrastructure, including the size and timing of governmental expenditures in these areas;
• the size and timing of capital expenditures by its customers;
• inventory practices of its customers;
• general conditions for IT and communication markets, and for the domestic and global economies;
• changes in governmental regulations or policies affecting the IT and communications industries;
• adverse changes in the public and private equity and debt markets, and the ability of its customers and suppliers to obtain financing or to fund capital expenditures; and
• adverse changes in the credit conditions of its customers and suppliers.

These trends and factors could have a material adverse effect on the NEC Group's business, results of operations and financial condition.

(2) Acquisitions and other business combinations and reorganizations

The NEC Group has completed and continues to seek appropriate opportunities for acquisitions and other business combinations and reorganizations in order to expand its business and strengthen its competitiveness. The NEC Group faces risks arising from acquisitions, business combinations and reorganizations, which could adversely affect its ability to achieve its strategic goals. For example,

• The NEC Group may be unable to realize the growth opportunities, improvement of its financial position, investment effect and other expected benefits by these acquisitions, business combinations and reorganizations in the expected time period or at all;
• The planned transactions may not be completed as scheduled or at all due to legal or regulatory requirements or contractual and other conditions to which such transactions are subject;
• Unanticipated problems could also arise in the integration process, including unanticipated restructuring or integration expenses and liabilities, as well as delays or other difficulties in coordinating, consolidating and integrating personnel, information and management systems, and customer products and services;
• The combined or reorganized entities may not be able to retain existing customers and strategic partners to the extent that they wish to diversify their suppliers for cost and risk management and other purposes;
• The combined or reorganized entities may require additional financial support from the NEC Group;
• The diversion of management and key employees' attention may detract from the NEC Group's ability to increase revenues and minimize costs;
• The goodwill and other intangible assets arising from the acquisitions and business reorganizations are subject to amortization and impairment charges;
• NEC Group's investments in the combined or reorganized entities are subject to valuation and other losses; and
• The transactions may result in other unanticipated adverse consequences.

Any of the foregoing and other risks may adversely affect the NEC Group's business, results of operations, financial condition and stock price.

(3) Alliance with strategic partners

The NEC Group has entered into a number of long-term strategic alliances with leading industry participants, both to develop new technologies and products and to manufacture existing and new products. If the NEC Group's strategic partners encounter financial or other business difficulties, if their strategic objectives change or if they no longer perceive the NEC Group to be an attractive alliance partner, they may no longer desire or be able to participate in the NEC Group's alliances. The NEC Group's business could be hurt if the NEC Group is unable to continue one or more of its alliances. The NEC Group participates in large projects where the NEC Group and various other companies provide services and products that are integrated into systems to meet customer requirements. If any of the services or products that any other company provides have any defects or problems causing the integrated systems to malfunction or otherwise fail to meet customer requirements, the NEC Group's reputation and business could be harmed.

(4) Expansion of global business

The NEC Group's strategies include expanding its business in markets outside Japan. In many of these markets, the NEC Group faces entry barriers such as the existence of long-standing relationships between its potential customers and their local suppliers, and protective regulations. In addition, pursuing international growth opportunities may require the NEC Group to make significant investments long before it realizes returns on the investments, if any. Increased investments may result in expenses growing at a faster rate than revenues.
The NEC Group's overseas projects and investments, particularly in China, could be adversely affected by:

• exchange controls;
• restrictions on foreign investment or the repatriation of income or invested capital;
• nationalization of local industries;
• changes in export or import restrictions;
• changes in the tax system or rate of taxation in the countries; and
• economic, social, and political risks.

In addition, difficulties in foreign financial markets and economies, particularly in emerging markets, could adversely affect demand from customers in the affected countries. Because of these factors, the NEC Group may not succeed in expanding its business in international markets. This could hurt its business growth prospects and results of operations.

3. Risks related to the NEC Group's business and operations

(1) Technological advances and response to customer needs

The markets for the products and services that the NEC Group offers are characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving technical standards, changes in customer preferences, and the frequent introduction of new products and services. The development and commercialization of new technologies and the introduction of new products and services will often make existing products and services obsolete or unmarketable. The NEC Group's competitiveness in the future will depend at least in part on its ability to:

• keep pace with rapid technological developments and maintain technological leadership;
• enhance existing products and services;
• develop and manufacture innovative products in a timely and cost-effective manner;
• utilize or adjust to new products, services, and technologies;
• attract and retain highly capable technical and engineering personnel;
• accurately assess the demand for, and perceived market acceptance of, new products and services that the NEC Group develops;
• avoid delays in developing or shipping new products;
• address increasingly sophisticated customer requirements; and
• have the NEC Group's products integrated into its customers' products and systems.

The NEC Group may not be successful in identifying and marketing product and service enhancements, or offering and supporting new products and services, in response to rapid changes in technologies and customer preferences. If the NEC Group fails to keep up with these changes, its business, results of operations and financial condition will be significantly harmed. In addition, the NEC Group may encounter difficulties in incorporating its technologies into its products in accordance with its customers' expectations, which may adversely affect its relationships with its customers, its reputation and revenues.

The NEC Group seeks to form and enhance alliances and partnerships with other companies to develop and commercialize technologies that will become industry standards for the products that it currently sells and plans to sell in the future. The NEC Group spends significant financial, human and other resources on developing and commercializing such technologies. The NEC Group may not, however, succeed in developing or commercializing such standard-setting technologies if its competitors' technologies are accepted as industry standards. In such case, the NEC Group's competitive position, reputation and results of operations could be adversely affected.

The process of developing new products entails many risks. The development process can be lengthy and costly, and requires the NEC Group to commit a significant amount of resources well in advance of sales. Technology and standards may change while the NEC Group is in the development stage, rendering its products obsolete or uncompetitive before their introduction. The NEC Group's newly developed products may contain undetected errors that may be discovered after their introduction and shipment. Those undetected errors could make the NEC Group liable for damages incurred by its customers.

(2) Production process

The markets in which the NEC Group operates are characterized by the introduction of products with short life cycles in a rapidly changing technological environment. Production processes of electronics products are highly complex, require advanced and costly manufacturing facilities, and must continuously be modified to improve efficiency and performance. Production difficulties or inefficiencies might affect profitability or interrupt production, and the NEC Group may not be able to deliver products on time in a cost-effective and competitive manner. If production is interrupted, the NEC Group may not be able to shift production to other facilities quickly, and customers may purchase products from other suppliers. The resulting shortage of manufacturing capacity for some products could adversely affect the NEC Group's ability to compete. The resulting reductions in revenues could be significant.

Legal and practical restrictions on the termination of employees, union agreements, and other factors limit the NEC Group's ability during industry downturns to reduce its production capacity and costs in order to adjust to reduced levels of demand. Conversely, during periods of increasing demand, the NEC Group may not have sufficient capacity to meet customer orders. As a result, the NEC Group may lose sales as customers turn to competitors who may be able to satisfy their increased demand.

(3) Defects in products and services

The NEC Group faces risks arising from defects in its products and services. Many of its products and services are used in "mission critical" situations where the adverse consequences of failure may be severe, exposing it to even greater risk. Product and service defects could make the NEC Group liable for damages incurred by its customers. Negative publicity concerning these problems could also make it more difficult to convince customers to buy the NEC Group's products and services.

In order to prevent the defects of products and services or the unprofitable projects, the NEC Group takes thorough measures to control risks in projects such as system development projects from the beginning of business negotiation, through understanding on customer's confirmed system requirements or technical difficulties, and quality control measures on hardware and software of which systems consist. However, it is difficult to prevent them completely. The defects of its products or services or the unprofitable projects could hurt the NEC Group's business, results of operations and financial condition.

(4) Material procurement

The NEC Group's manufacturing operations depend on obtaining deliveries of raw materials, components, equipment, and other supplies in a timely manner. In some cases, the NEC Group purchases on a just-in-time basis. Because the products that the NEC Group purchases are often complex or specialized, it may be difficult for the NEC Group to substitute one supplier for another or one product for another. Some products are available only from a limited number of suppliers or a single supplier. Although the NEC Group believes that supplies of the raw materials, components, equipment, and other supplies that the NEC Group uses are currently adequate, shortages in critical materials could occur due to an interruption in supply or an increase in industry demand. In addition, a financial market disruption could pose liquidity or solvency risks for the NEC Group's suppliers, which could reduce its sources of supply or disrupt its supply chain. The NEC Group's results of operations would be hurt if it could not obtain adequate delivery of these supplies in a timely manner, or if it had to pay significantly more for them. Reliance on suppliers and industry supply conditions generally involve several risks, including:

• insolvency of, or other liquidity constraints affecting, key suppliers;
• the possibility of defective raw materials, components, equipment or other supplies, which can adversely affect the reliability and reputation of the NEC Group's products;
• a shortage of raw materials, components, equipment or other supplies, and reduced control over delivery schedules, which can adversely affect the NEC Group's manufacturing capacity and efficiencies; and
• an increase in the cost of raw materials, components, equipment and other supplies, which can adversely affect the NEC Group's profitability.

(5) Intellectual property rights

The NEC Group depends on its proprietary technology, and its ability to obtain patents and other intellectual property rights covering its products, services, business models, and design and manufacturing processes. The applications for patents and the maintenance of registered patents can be a time and cost consuming process. The NEC Group's patents could be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented. The fact that the NEC Group holds many patents or other intellectual property rights does not ensure that the rights granted under them will provide competitive advantages to the NEC Group. For example, the protection afforded by the NEC Group's intellectual property rights may be undermined by rapid changes in technologies in the industries in which the NEC Group operates. Similarly, there can be no assurance that claims allowed on any future patents will be broad enough to protect the NEC Group's technology. Effective patent, copyright, and trade secret protection may be unavailable or limited in some countries, and the NEC Group's trade secrets may be vulnerable to disclosure or misappropriation by employees, contractors, and other persons. Further, pirated products of inferior quality infringing the NEC Group's intellectual property rights may damage its brand and adversely affect sales of its products. Litigation, which could consume financial and management resources, may be necessary to enforce the NEC Group's patents or other intellectual property rights.

(6) Intellectual property licenses owned by third parties

Many of the NEC Group's products are designed to include software or other intellectual property licenses from third parties. While it may be necessary in the future to seek or renew licenses relating to various aspects of the NEC Group's products, the NEC Group believes that, based upon experience and industry's standard practices, these licenses can be obtained on commercially reasonable terms in principle. There can be no assurance that the NEC Group will be able to obtain, on commercially reasonable terms or at all, from third parties the licenses that the NEC Group will need.

(7) Intense competition

Competition creates an unfavorable pricing environment for the NEC Group in many of the markets in which it operates. Competition places significant pressure on the NEC Group's ability to maintain gross margins and is particularly acute during market slowdowns. The entry of additional competitors into the markets in which the NEC Group operates increases the risk that its products and services will become subject to intense price competition. Some of the NEC Group's competitors mainly in Asian countries may have an advantage of lower production cost than the NEC Group does and may be able to compete for customers more effectively than it can in terms of price. In recent years, the time between the introduction of a new product developed by the NEC Group and the production of the same or a comparable product by its competitors has become shorter. This has increased the risk that the products the NEC Group offers will become subject to intense price competition sooner than in the past.

The NEC Group has many competitors in Japan and other countries, ranging from large multinational corporations to a number of relatively small, rapidly growing, and highly specialized companies. Unlike many of the NEC Group's competitors, however, it operates in many businesses and competes with companies that specialize in one or more of its product or service lines. As a result, the NEC Group may not be able to fund or invest in some of its businesses as much as its competitors can, and it may not be able to change or take advantage of market opportunities as quickly or as well as they can.

The NEC Group sells products and services to some of its current and potential competitors. For example, the NEC Group receives orders from, and provides solutions to, competitors that further integrate or otherwise use its solutions for large projects for which such competitors are engaged as the primary solutions provider. If these competitors cease to use the NEC Group's solutions for such large projects for competitive or other reasons, the NEC Group's business could be harmed.

(8) Dependence on the NTT Group

The NEC Group derived approximately 16.2% of its net sales in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012 from the NTT group (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation and its affiliates including NTT DOCOMO, INC.). If the NTT group reduces its level of capital expenditures or current procurement or shifts its investment focus as a result of such factors as significant business or financial problems, the NEC Group's business, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected. In addition, the NEC Group's business may be adversely affected if the NTT group begins to manufacture products that the NEC Group supplies or acquires its competitors.

(9) Risks related to customers' financial difficulties

The NEC Group sometimes provide vendor financing to its customers or offer customers extended payment terms or other forms of financing to assist their purchase of the NEC Group's products and services. If the NEC Group is unable to provide or facilitate such payment arrangements or other forms of financing to its customers on terms acceptable to them or at all, due to financial difficulties or otherwise, the NEC Group's results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, many of the NEC Group's customers purchase products and services from the NEC Group on payment terms that provide for deferred payment. If the NEC Group's customers for whom it has extended payment terms or provided other financing terms, or from whom it has substantial accounts receivable, encounter financial difficulties or inability to access credit from others, and are unable to make payments on time, the NEC Group's business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

(10) Retention of personnel

Like all technology companies, the NEC Group must compete for talented employees to develop its products, services and solutions. As a result, the NEC Group's human resources organization focuses significant efforts on attracting and retaining individuals in key technology positions. If the NEC Group experiences a substantial loss of, or an inability to attract, talented personnel, it may experience difficulty in meeting its business objectives.

(11) Financing

The NEC Group's primary sources of funds are cash flows from operations, borrowings from banks and other institutional lenders, and funding from the capital markets, such as offerings of commercial paper and other debt securities. A downgrade in the NEC Group's credit ratings could result in increases in its interest expenses and could have an adverse impact on its ability to access the commercial paper market or other debt markets, which could have an adverse effect on the NEC Group's financial position and liquidity.

A failure of one or more of the NEC Group's major lenders, a decision by one or more of them to stop lending to the NEC Group or instability in the capital markets could have an adverse impact on the NEC Group's access to funding. If the NEC Group fails to obtain external financing on terms acceptable to it, or at all, or to generate sufficient cash flows from its operations or sales of its assets, when necessary, the NEC Group will be unable to fulfill its obligations, and its business will be materially adversely affected. In addition, to the extent the NEC Group finances its activities with additional debt, the NEC Group may become subject to financial and other covenants that may restrict its ability to pursue its growth strategy.

4. Risks related to internal control, legal proceedings, laws and governmental policies

(1) Internal control

The NEC Group is taking action to guarantee the accuracy of its financial reporting by strengthening its internal controls with expanding documentation of the business process and implementing stronger internal auditing. However, even effective internal control systems can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements. For example, the inherent limitations of internal control systems include fraud, human error, or circumvention of controls, such as through collusion among multiple employees. In addition, the systems may not be able to effectively deal with changes in the business environment unforeseen at the time that the systems were implemented or with non-routine transactions. The NEC Group's established business processes may not function effectively, and fraudulent acts, such as false financial reporting or embezzlement, or inadvertent mistakes may occur. Such events may require restatement of financial information and could adversely affect the NEC Group's financial condition or results of operations. The NEC Group's reputation in the financial markets may also be damaged as a result of these events. In addition, if any administrative or judicial sanction is issued against the NEC Group as a result of these events, it may lose business opportunities.

If the NEC Group identifies a material weakness in its internal control systems, the NEC Group may incur significant additional costs for remedying such weakness. Despite its efforts by the NEC Group to continually improve and standardize its business processes from the perspective of ensuring effective operations and enhancing efficiency, it is difficult to design and establish common business processes since the NEC Group operates in a diverse range of countries and regions, using varying business processes. Consequently, its efforts by the NEC Group to further improve and standardize its business processes may continue to occupy significant management and human resources and the NEC Group may incur considerable financial costs.

(2) Legal proceedings

From time to time, the NEC Group companies are involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings, including intellectual property infringement claims. Due to the existence of a large number of intellectual property rights in the fields in which the NEC Group operates and the rapid rate of issuance of new intellectual property rights, it is difficult to completely judge in advance whether a product or any of its components may infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others. Whether or not intellectual property infringement claims against the NEC Group companies have merit, significant financial and management resources may be required to defend the NEC Group from such claims. If an intellectual property infringement claim by a third party is successful and the NEC Group could not obtain a license of technology which is subject of the infringement claim or any substitution thereof, it could have a material adverse effect on the NEC Group's business, results of operations and financial condition.

The NEC Group may also from time to time be involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings concerning such laws as business laws, antitrust laws, product liability laws, and environmental laws other than intellectual property infringement actions.

It is difficult to foresee the results of legal actions and proceedings currently involving the NEC Group or of those which may arise in the future, and an adverse result in these matters could have a significant negative effect on the NEC Group's business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, any legal or administrative proceedings which the NEC Group is subject to could require the significant involvement of senior management of the NEC Group, and may divert management attention from the NEC Group's business and operations.

(3) Laws and governmental policies

In many of the countries in which the NEC Group operates, its business is subject to various risks associated with unexpected regulatory changes, uncertainty in the application of laws and governmental policies and uncertainty relating to legal liabilities. Substantial changes in the regulatory or legal environments, including the economic, tax, defense, labor, spending and other policies of the governments of Japan and other jurisdictions in which the NEC Group operates could adversely affect its business, results of operations and financial condition.

Changes in Japanese and international telecommunications regulations and tariffs, including those pertaining to Internet-related businesses and technologies, could affect the sales of the NEC Group's products or services, and this could adversely affect its business, results of operations and financial condition.

(4) Environmental laws and regulations

The NEC Group's operations are subject to many environmental laws and regulations governing, among other things, air emissions, wastewater discharges, the use and handling of hazardous substances, waste disposal, chemical substances in products, product recycling, soil and ground water contamination and global warming. The NEC Group faces risks of environmental liability arising from its current, historical, and future manufacturing activities. The NEC Group endeavors to comply with laws and government policies, establishing self-management norms and conducting daily inspections and environmental auditing in accordance with its internal environmental policies. However, costs associated with future additional and stricter environmental compliance or remediation obligations could adversely affect the NEC Group's business, results of operations and financial condition.

(5) Tax practice

The NEC Group's effective tax rate could be adversely affected by: earnings being lower than anticipated in countries that have lower tax rates and higher than anticipated in countries that have higher tax rates; changes in the valuation of the NEC Group's deferred tax assets and liabilities; transfer pricing adjustments; tax effects of nondeductible compensation; or changes in tax laws, regulations, accounting principles or interpretation thereof in the various jurisdictions in which the NEC Group operates. Any significant increase in the NEC Group's future effective tax rates could reduce net income for future periods. The NEC Group currently carries deferred tax assets resulting from tax loss carry forwards and deductible temporary differences, both of which will reduce its taxable income in the future. However, the deferred tax assets may only be realized against taxable income. The amount of the NEC Group's deferred tax assets that is considered realizable could be reduced from time to time if estimates of future taxable income from its operations and tax planning strategies during the carry forward period are lower than forecasted, due to further deterioration in market conditions or other circumstances. In addition, the amount of the NEC Group's deferred tax assets could be reduced due to changes in tax laws, regulations or accounting principles related to future deductions of income tax rates. Any such reduction will adversely affect the NEC Group's income for the period of the adjustment.

Furthermore, the NEC Group is subject to continuous audits and examination of its income tax returns by tax authorities of various jurisdictions. The NEC Group regularly assesses the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these audits and examinations to determine the adequacy of its provisions for income taxes. There can be no assurance that the outcomes of these audits and examinations will not have an adverse effect on the NEC Group's results of operations and financial condition.

(6) Information management

The NEC Group stores a voluminous amount of personal information and confidential information in the regular course of its business. There have been many cases where such information and records in the possession of corporations and institutions were leaked or improperly accessed. If personal or confidential information in the NEC Group's possession about its customers or employees is leaked or improperly accessed and subsequently misused, it may be subject to liability and regulatory action, and its reputation and brand value may be damaged.

The NEC Group is required to handle personal information in compliance with the Personal Information Protection Law of Japan. The NEC Group may have to provide compensation for economic loss and emotional distress arising out of a failure to protect such information. The cost and operational consequences of implementing further data protection measures could be significant. In addition, incidents of unauthorized disclosure could create a negative public perception of the NEC Group's operations, systems or brand, which may in turn decrease customer and market confidence in the NEC Group and materially and adversely affect its business, results of operations and financial condition.

5. Other Risks

(1) Natural and fire disasters

Natural disasters, fires, public health issues, armed hostilities, terrorism and other incidents, whether in Japan or any other country in which the NEC Group operate, could cause damage or disruption to the NEC Group, its suppliers or customers, or could create political or economic instability, any of which could harm its business. For example, several of the NEC Group's facilities in Japan could be subject to catastrophic loss caused by earthquakes. The spread of unknown infectious diseases, such as a new type of influenza virus or a worsening of the H1N1 pandemic, could affect adversely the NEC Group's operations by rendering its employees unable to work, reducing customer demand or by disrupting its suppliers' operations. In addition, under the circumstance where network and information systems become more important to operating activities of the NEC Group, such systems are vulnerable to shutdowns caused by unforeseen events such as power outages or natural disasters or terrorism, hardware or software defects, or computer viruses and computer hacking. Although the NEC Group has various measures in place, including the earthquake-resistant reinforcement of its principal facilities in Japan, periodic training drills for employees and redundant back-up information systems, and have adopted and implemented a group-wide business continuity plan outlining countermeasures to be taken in response to these events, any of these events, over which the NEC Group has little or no control, could cause a decrease in demand for its products or services, make it difficult or impossible for the NEC Group to deliver products or for its suppliers to deliver components, require large expenditures to repair or replace its facilities or create delays and inefficiencies in its supply chain.

(2) Accounting policies

The methods, estimates and judgments that the NEC Group uses in applying in its accounting policies could have a significant impact on its results of operations. Such methods, estimates and judgments are, by their nature, subject to substantial risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and factors may arise over time that lead the NEC Group to change its methods, estimates and judgments. Changes in those methods, estimates and judgments could significantly affect the NEC Group's results of operations. Due to the volatility in the financial markets and overall economic uncertainty, the actual amounts realized in the future on the NEC Group's debt and equity investments may differ significantly from the fair values currently assigned to them.

(3) Retirement benefit obligations

Changes in discount rates and actuarial assumptions on which the calculation of projected benefit obligations are based may have an adverse effect on the NEC Group's financial condition and its results of operations. For example, any future reduction of discount rates may cause unrecognized actuarial losses, or the NEC Group may experience unrecognized prior service costs in the future resulting from amendments to the plans. Changes in the interest rate environment and other factors may also adversely affect the amount of the NEC Group's unfunded retirement benefit obligations and the resulting annual amortization expense.

(4) Sale of NEC's common stock in the United States of America

As a result of the failure to file annual reports on Form 20-F with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States of America (the "SEC") for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006 and thereafter, American depositary shares of NEC were delisted from the NASDAQ Stock Market in October 2007. In addition, NEC was subject to an informal inquiry by the SEC concerning matters including its failure to file annual reports on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006 and thereafter. In June 2008, NEC entered into a settlement agreement with the SEC, and as part of the settlement, the SEC issued an order under Section 12(j) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"). The SEC ordered that (a) NEC ceases and desists from the violations of certain provisions of the Exchange Act because the SEC found that certain of its actions violated certain provisions of the Exchange Act, and (b) the registration under the Exchange Act of its common stock and American depositary shares be revoked. NEC did not admit or deny the findings by the SEC set forth in the order. No fine or other monetary payment was required under the order. As a result of the revocation, no broker or dealer worldwide and no member of a U.S. securities exchange may make use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce in the United States to effect any transaction in, or to induce the purchase or sale of, shares of common stock or American depositary shares of NEC. Accordingly, it may be difficult for shareholders of NEC to sell or purchase the shares of NEC's common stock in the United States of America, and this situation may continue in the future.

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