| Olympus Optical Co. and Lexar Media Sign Worldwide OEM and Technology Licensing Agreement FREMONT, Calif., May 3, 2001 -- Lexar Media, Inc. (NSDQ: LEXR) a leading designer, developer and marketer of award-winning digital film and connectivity products for the digital photography market, and Olympus Optical Co., a world leader in the development and marketing of digital cameras, announced today that both companies have entered into an OEM and technology licensing agreement, which goes into effect immediately.
The terms of the agreement include the following key points: - Lexar Media and Olympus will jointly develop next generation digital film for use in future Olympus digital cameras. These future digital film products will carry the Lexar Media brand.
- Olympus will have a non-exclusive license to Lexar Media’s patented technology. The license applies to technology used in digital film cards manufactured by or for Olympus across its full line of professional and consumer products.
- Bundling of Lexar Media branded digital film with all Olympus digital cameras to be distributed in Japan.
“Olympus recently announced its intent to focus on high-end digital camera products, which demand high-quality, high-performance digital film. I am pleased that Olympus has chosen Lexar Media as their partner for high performance digital media,” said John Reimer, Lexar Media’s president and CEO. “Olympus is clearly a market leader in digital camera development and marketing. They are committed to offering best-of-class products, which is why Olympus digital cameras are known around the world as being of the highest quality.”
“The superior high-resolution image quality delivered by Olympus digital cameras demands a digital film capable of writing data as fast as possible,” said Yusuke Kojima, general manager of Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. “Olympus is pleased to integrate Lexar Media’s superior technology into our digital film products. Today’s digital cameras demand a lot from digital film. Lexar Media’s technology is critical for optimizing digital camera performance.”
Olympus becomes the fourth licensee of Lexar Media’s patents. Sony was the first licensee of Lexar Media’s technology for adaptation in Sony’s Memory Stick format. SanDisk was the second licensee of Lexar Media’s patented technology for the production of SmartMedia� products. The third license is with Samsung Electronics and covers SmartMedia as well as other flash products. Financial details of the agreement are confidential.
About Lexar Media, Inc.
Lexar Media, Inc. (NSDQ: LEXR) is a leading designer, developer and marketer of award-winning digital film and connectivity solutions for the professional, commercial and amateur digital photography markets. A digital media storage innovator, Lexar Media was the first company to develop and advance proprietary write-speed standards for its complete line of USB-enabled CompactFlash� cards. Lexar Media also brands digital film in the industry's most popular formats, plus an array of digital film readers. The Company also offers “Shoot & Share” image browsing and editing software, an online photofinishing service at Printroom.com and a Web-based educational digital photography site at SayCheese.com. Headquartered in Fremont, California, Lexar Media also has offices in London and Tokyo. For more information, please call 1-800-789-9418 or visit www.digitalfilm.com
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. These forward-looking statements include statements related to our future technology development, the potential value of our patent portfolio and the use of our technology by our strategic partners. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. These risks include that Lexar Media could become subject to intellectual property claims that could divert management’s time and attention, could be time consuming and expensive to defend and could limit our access to important technology and that if we are unable to adequately protect our intellectual property, our competitors may gain access to our technology which could harm our ability to successfully compete in our market. Readers should also refer to the risk factors described in Lexar Media’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2000, filed with the Commission on April 2, 2001. Lexar Media assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this news release.
Lexar Media, Printroom.com, SayCheese.com, Shoot & Share, JumpShot and the Lexar Media logo are trademarks of Lexar Media, Inc. Lexar Media Inc. is an authorized licensee of the CompactFlash trademark. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. |
