NEC was originally known as the Nippon Electronic Company when founders Kunihiko Iwadare and Takeshiro Maeda acquired facilities from the Miyoshi Electrical Manufacturing Company in 1898. It became the very first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital in 1899 when a revised treaty with the United States allowed the creation of a joint stock enterprise. In 1919, it joined the famous Sumitomo keiretsu. In 1980, the company created the first digital signal processor and helped launch an audio technology revolution.  

In 2020, NEC and Sharp announced a joint venture that will combine NEC Display Solutions with Sharp. The Sharp-NEC joint venture will allow both companies to build upon their strengths and address the visualization needs of their global customers.  www.necdisplay.com