The firm said the target will be achieved after heavy investments in digital TV and automotive applications.

"NEC Electronics plans to expand its product application ranges from the current home appliances, personal computers and communications to automotive and digital TV applications in China," Fumiaki Urase, president of NEC Electronics (China) Co, said at the International IC-China Conference and Exhibition in Shanghai yesterday.

"We expect an annual growth of more than 20 percent in China in the next few years to achieve sales of US$1 billion in the year 2010."

NEC Electronics' sales totaled about US$600 million last year, with major revenue from electronic appliances, computers and other communications products, he said.

Urase said NEC has started work with several Chinese firms to co-develop applications for digital TV, a promising sector in China.

"Applications in China's nascent digital TV and automotive industry will help fuel our future growth in China," he said.

NEC is among hundreds of industry leaders exhibiting their products and technologies at the IC fair, which ends today at ShanghaiMart.

China's fast-expanding semiconductor market, plus its growing capability in integrated circuit design, have attracted more global leaders like Texas Instruments and Analog Devices to have a presence at the show.

In the past, the country has been more regarded as a producer, tester and packager of integrated circuits. China's IC market leapt 32 percent to US$40.8 billion in sales last year, according to IC Insights, a market research company.

The market is expected to expand to US$124 billion by 2010, the company said.

Yorbe Zhang, an IC specialist with Global Sources, the fair organizer, said China's IC industry is registering an annual growth of 50 percent to 70 percent annually.

"Half of the revenue comes from testing and packaging, 35 percent from manufacturing while the remaining 15 percent is from IC design," he said.

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