DVD+RW Alliance - History of the Alliance

History of the Alliance

The DVD+RW Alliance is a voluntary group of industry-leading personal computing manufacturers, optical storage and electronics manufacturers including Dell, Hewlett-Packard Company, MCC/Verbatim, Philips Electronics, Ricoh Company Ltd., Sony Corporation, Thomson multimedia and Yamaha Corporation. The group seeks to develop and promote a universally compatible, rewritable DVD format to enable true convergence between personal computing and consumer electronics products.

About Dell
Dell Computer Corporation is the world's No. 1 computer systems company and is a premier provider of products and services required for customers to build their information-technology and Internet infrastructures. The company's revenue for the past four quarters totaled $32.6 billion. Dell ranks No. 48 on the Fortune 500, No. 154 on the Fortune Global 500 and No. 10 on the Fortune "most admired" lists of companies. Dell, through its direct business model, designs, manufactures and customizes products and services to customer requirements, and offers an extensive selection of software and peripherals. Information on Dell and its products can be obtained on the World Wide Web at

www.dell.com.

About HP
HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and businesses. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. HP completed its acquisition of Compaq Computer Corporation on May 3, 2002. More information about HP is available at

http://www.hp.com.

About Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) is Japan's largest chemical company and one of the world's leading manufacturers of information storage products. In a line-up of data and image storage media, MCC holds a strong market share in markets such as DVD-R discs, CD-R and CD-RW discs, 90 mm and 130 mm MO discs, 130 mm WORM discs, hard disc media, as well as tape cartridges and floppy discs. Many of these products are marketed through Verbatim Corporation, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of MCC. Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation has approximately 10,000 employees, and on a consolidated basis recorded revenues of approximately $13 billion for the year ended March 31, 1999. Interested parties can contact the company by calling 81-3-3283-6631 or by faxing to 81-3-3283-6966.

About Philips Electronics
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of EUR 32.3 billion in 2001. It is a global leader in color television sets, lighting, electric shavers, medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, and one-chip TV products. Its 189,000 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, and medical systems. Philips is quoted on the NYSE (symbol: PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges. News from Philips is located at www.news.philips.com. Philips DVD+RW product information is located here. Data drive information is located here. DVD+RW licensing information is located at

http://www.licensing.philips.com/information/dvdrw/

About Ricoh Company, Ltd.
Ricoh Company, Ltd. is one of the world's leading manufacturers of office equipment. Ricoh is the first manufacturer of CD-RW media and CD-R/RW drives, and is also a manufacturer of CD-R media. Ricoh immediately incorporates the latest CD-RW standards to produce high-speed reliable products. With the combination of media and drive technology, Ricoh is offering high performance and reliable optical disc products. One example is the unique MP9120A drive, which can handle not just CD-ROM, CD-R or CD-RW media, but can even play back DVD-ROMs in one unit. Additionally, "JustLink" which is new buffer under run prevention technology is applied on the drive. The Ricoh group consists of 122 consolidated subsidiaries and affiliates in Japan and 205 overseas, which include production, sales as well as research and development facilities. As of March 2000, the Ricoh group employed approximately 67,300 people with recorded annual revenues of $14.05 billion. Additional information about Ricoh and its products can be found at

http://www.ricoh.co.jp

About Sony Corporation
Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, game, communications and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and on-line businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be a leading broadband entertainment company in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of more than $63 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000. Sony's Home Page URL:

http://www.world.sony.com/

About Thomson multimedia
With sales of 9.1 billion Euros (U.S. $8.3 billion) in 2000 and 67,000 employees in more than 30 countries, Thomson multimedia (Paris Sicovam: 18453) (NYSE: TMS), provides a wide range of technologies, systems, finished products and services to consumers and professionals of the entertainment and media industries. To advance and enable the digital media transition, Thomson multimedia has five principal activities: Displays and Components, Digital Media Solutions, Consumer Products, New Media Services, and Patents and Licensing. The company distributes its products under the popular THOMSON and RCA brand names. For more information:

http://www.thomson-multimedia.com.

About Yamaha Corporation
Yamaha Corporation is the world's largest musical instrument manufacturer. While Yamaha products have changed with the times and have seen extensive diversification, neither the products nor the foundation of Yamaha's business has strayed far from its original focus on sound. New Yamaha business ventures are expanding from its fundamental expertise in sound, music and multimedia, and innovative products such as Yamaha sound and image LSIs are used widely in computers and game units. Yamaha also anticipates a substantial increase in sales of CD-RW drives and other products central to the fast-developing field of information technology. The Yamaha Group now has 61 subsidiaries and representative offices in overseas markets in addition to numerous related companies in Japan. Yamaha recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $5 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000. More information about Yamaha can be found on their website at

http://www.yamaha.co.jp/