SUPD.L Regulatory News (SUPD)

13 Mar 2006 09:38

Sunplus Technology Co Limited13 March 2006 Sunext and Philips Signed Licensing Agreement for Optical Drive SemiconductorTechnology Press Release Issued on: 2006/03/13 Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan, R.O.C. and Eindhoven, The Netherlands, March 13th,2006 - Sunext Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Sunplus Technology Co., Ltd.(TAIEX: 2401, FTSE: SUPD) and Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI)today announced that the two companies have completed an agreement relating tothe transfer of Philips Optical Disc Drive (ODD) semiconductor technology andlicensing of related patents. Agreements were also made providing for relateddesign and manufacturing services. The technology license granted to Sunext is exclusive in the area of the design,implementation, manufacture and sale of IC's and solutions for PC ODD and HomeEntertainment DVD Recorders. Related Philips' patents are licensed on anon-exclusive basis. Sunext will sell and support products produced with the Philips ODD technologytransferred by this agreement under the Sunext brand name. DVD recordablesemiconductor products are available immediately, are currently in high volumeproduction with leading ODD suppliers and are in use by major PC OEMs. Bluelaser recordable products are sampling today and are expected to be in volumeproduction by mid-2006. As part of the agreement, Philips shall also receive aminority share in Sunext. "We are excited by the opportunities created by this partnership between Philipsand Sunext. We are confident that joining of both companies' technical andmarket strengths will significantly improve the innovation speed and productportfolio to enhance the success in the IT and Consumers markets and furtherimprove the support to key customers, " said Giel Rutten, Senior Vice Presidentand General Manager, Philips Semiconductor, Home Business Unit. "By leveraging Philips leading ODD technology and Sunext time-to-market andefficiency, there is a promising future for Sunext to expand its market," saidChou-Chye Huang, Chairman of Sunext and Sunplus. "In addition, we expectsignificant long term derivative benefits to Sunplus in the Home Entertainmentmarket." Dr. Phil Mak, President of Sunext added: "Philips technology is renownedworldwide for its performance and quality. We look forward to using our combinedstrength to increase volume and profit in today's DVD markets, and to give us anearly lead in tomorrow's Blue-laser products." About Royal Philips Electronics Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is one of theworld's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of EUR30.4 billion in 2005. With activities in the three interlocking domains ofhealthcare, lifestyle and technology and 159,200 employees in more than 60countries, it has market leadership positions in medical diagnostic imaging andpatient monitoring, color television sets, electric shavers, lighting andsilicon system solutions. News from Philips is located atwww.semiconductors.philips.com About Sunext Sunext Technology Company Limited, with headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan, isprivately held and a leading supplier of semiconductor products for Optical DiscDrive (ODD) applications. Sunext was formed in 2003 to capitalize on globaldemand for ODD silicon and operates design centers in Hsinchu, Taiwan; Taipei,Taiwan; Sunnyvale, USA; and Shanghai, PRC. For further information visit theSunext website at: www.sunext.com About Sunplus Sunplus Technology Company Limited, established in 1990, is an IC design companydevoted to electrical consumer applications. Sunplus offers not only IC designbut also system solutions to maximize customer's profit by differentiating eachdesign. Sunplus' reusable IP such as audio/video, microprocessor and digitalsignal processor technologies applied to hundreds of IC products such as DVDplayer/recorder, LCD driver/controller, game processor, camera controller,mobile media processor and ASICs that contributed to our quality life. Withsales of NT$18,781 million for 2005, Sunplus has a compound annual growth rateof over 30% over 5 years. For more information, please visit the Sunpluswebsite: www.sunplus.com. For further press information, please contact Philips: Europe: Marijke Sas Tel. +31 40 272 2091 marijke.sas@philips.com USA: Rebecca Samuel Tel. +1 408 474 8769 rebecca.samuel@philips.com Asia Pacific: Terry Chiang Tel. +886 2 3789 2821 terry.chiang@philips.com Sunext: Julie HuangTel. +886 3 666 1311 ext. 3601Julie@sunext.com Sunplus: Press Contact:Spokesman: Public Relation/Investor Relations:Wayne Shen Ann LaiSunplus Technology Co., Ltd. Sunplus Technology Co., Ltd.Tel: 886-3-5786005 ext: 2350 Tel: 886-3-5786005 ext: 2202Fax: 886-3-5786006 Fax: 886-3-5786006E-mail: wayne@sunplus.com.tw E-mail: annlai@sunplus.com.tw This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange