NEC Corp intends to increase shipments of recordable DVD drives used in personal computers to more than 10 million units in fiscal 2004, up 50% on the year, in response to the shift among major manufacturers toward models with more audiovisual functions. The drives made by NEC are compatible with both the DVD+R/RW format used by European and U.S. PC makers, as well as the DVD-R/RW format.

NEC entered the recordable DVD drive market in fiscal 2002, and its shipments in fiscal 2003 are expected to have risen 17-fold to 7 million units. The firm currently holds a 26% share of the global market.

Large-lot clients such as Dell Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co are increasingly adding digital home appliance features to their PCs. To meet the higher shipment target for fiscal 2004, the company will boost production at contracted plants in Malaysia and China.