NEW YORK CITY - Oct. 25, 2005 - NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY)
(FTSE: 6701q.1) and Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) today announced
that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to negotiate a
partnership to collaborate in technology research and development,
manufacturing and solutions delivery. This alliance would cover a
number of areas of joint development and solution delivery
activities focusing on server technology, software, integrated
solutions and support services.
"This alliance will significantly contribute to NEC's global
business. Going forward, we expect high-end Intel-based servers,
the most important in the market, to be even further enhanced,
boosting global shipments. Optimal advancement of server software
will be enabled by the mutual provision of both companies' software
in the mission critical business field. Furthermore, the
complementary strengths of both companies in solutions and services
markets and applications will be of great advantage to NEC's global
strategy," said Akinobu Kanasugi, President of NEC. "Unisys
world-class consulting and support services will also benefit our
customers."
"In this age of increasingly globalized business, companies that
are continents apart can discover that they're ideally positioned
to mesh their complementary strengths and vision; so it is with NEC
and us," said Joseph McGrath, CEO of Unisys. "Together, we can
provide an enriched combination of technology, consulting expertise
and global presence that is designed to generate increased
innovation with lower R&D costs, stronger offerings for our
customers, and access to new market opportunities for both
companies. This is among a number of new ventures for Unisys that
build on our more aggressive partnering model to provide value and
unlock opportunities around the globe."
Technology Alignment
NEC and Unisys plan to collaborate to design and develop a
common high-end Intel-based server platform to provide customers of
each company with increasingly powerful, scalable and
cost-effective servers. The first of these next-generation common
platforms is planned for release in 2007. The new servers are to be
manufactured by NEC on behalf of both companies. Unisys will
continue to supply its customers with ClearPath mainframes with the
benefit, over time, of joint R&D by both companies and
manufacturing provided by NEC.
The two companies plan to supply to each other their current
Windows- and Linux-based middleware products, such as NEC's
"VALUMOware" and Unisys Sentinel software. They also plan to
jointly develop new middleware aimed at maximizing application and
systems management efficiency.
"Industry data shows that Unisys already has the largest share
of the fast-growing high-end Intel-based Windows server market,"
said Fred Dillman, chief technology officer of Unisys. "Unisys and
NEC are positioned to deliver the benefits of the Intel technology
roadmap for future chip developments, to drive the growth of
standardized data center servers - bringing lower costs, greater
flexibility and higher performance to our customers."
Solutions Alignment
Together, NEC and Unisys plan to extend the customer value and
effective geographic scope of their solutions business. Initial
areas for the planned collaboration include:
-Security Products and Solutions. Unisys and
NEC both have a strong background in providing their respective
offerings in the security market for some of the most demanding
industries and government organizations. The companies are planning
several new and expanded initiatives that combine NEC's
sophisticated biometric devices - such as fingerprint, palm print,
and facial recognition systems - with Unisys domain expertise in
developing security solutions for financial services, airline
transportation, federal government international border control and
other industry segments.
-Telecommunications Solutions. The companies
have agreed to explore opportunities for network-based services for
the telecommunications industry in order to leverage their
respective core competencies. The parties may also collaborate to
deliver an end-to-end solution for the emerging IP Multimedia
Subsystem (IMS) sector that will help global carriers deliver new
services through convergence between existing fixed and mobile
networks.
-3D Visible Enterprise Solutions. Under the
terms of the partnership, NEC will explore the use of Unisys 3D
Visible Enterprise (3D-VE) methodology to improve the delivery of
services to its clients. 3D-VE is Unisys foundational approach to
marrying domain expertise with technical scenario modeling tools to
provide customers with a rich, three-dimensional representation of
the costs and impacts of IT decisions at all levels of their
business organization.
-Worldwide Opportunities. NEC and Unisys plan
to collaborate to advance their intersecting interests in areas
such as in consulting, systems integration, outsourcing, and
leading-edge solutions as they engage a broad spectrum of customers
in countries such as the United States and China, as well as other
growth markets.
Support Alignment
-Maintenance and Support.
Under the proposed arrangements, Unisys would become the
preferred partner to provide technology support and maintenance
services, such as break-fix support, to NEC's customers in markets
outside Japan. Additional areas for exploration include how NEC can
leverage Unisys global footprint in other service areas.
While non-binding, the Memorandum of Understanding contemplates
the negotiation of binding agreements that would give effect to the
areas of collaboration mentioned in this release.
About Unisys
Unisys is a worldwide information technology services and
solutions company. Our people combine expertise in consulting,
systems integration, outsourcing, infrastructure and server
technology with precision thinking and relentless execution to help
clients, in more than 100 countries, quickly and efficiently
achieve competitive advantage. For more information, visit www.unisys.com.
About NEC
NEC is one of the world's leading providers of Internet,
broadband network and enterprise business solutions dedicated to
meeting the specialized needs of its diverse and global base of
customers. Ranked as one of the world's top patent-producing
companies, NEC delivers tailored solutions in the key fields of
computer, networking and electron devices, by integrating its
technical strengths in IT and Networks, and by providing advanced
semiconductor solutions through NEC Electronics Corporation. The
NEC Group employs more than 140,000 people worldwide and had net
sales of 4,855 billion yen (approx. $45 billion) in the fiscal year
ended March 2005. For additional information, please visit the NEC
home page at: http://www.nec.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this release that are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include,
but are not limited to, any statements of the company's plans,
strategies or objectives and any statements of belief or
expectation.
All forward-looking statements rely on assumptions and are
subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from expectations. In particular,
statements in this release regarding the anticipated benefits of
the arrangement between the parties assume that the company and NEC
will execute definitive agreements as contemplated by the
memorandum of understanding. In addition, the anticipated benefits
are dependent upon the ability of the companies to timely and
effectively implement their planned actions and upon the level of
demand for each company's products and services. The companies'
ability to achieve the anticipated benefits is also subject to
general economic and business conditions, aggressive competition
and potential cost escalations. A discussion of additional factors
that could affect Unisys future results is contained in its
periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Unisys assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements.
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