Electronic giant NEC announced recently the unveiling of a 55nm process technology, available for use as early as 2007. The increasing burden placed on microprocessors, RAM and other integrated circuits makes reductions in process necessary and practical, driving factors such as power consumption, price and waste down, while increasing volume and allowing for more performance. NEC has plans in the future to co-develop further technologies along this line with Toshiba, to share development costs, an increasingly popular tactic as the cost of research and development goes up.