Zi CORPORATION
NEWS RELEASEFor immediate release (Calgary, AB Canada)
July 24, 2000
Zi acquires leading Hong Kong telecom technology developer
Calgary, Canada and Hong Kong, China (July 24, 2000) - Zi Corporation (NASDAQ: ZICA) (TSE: ZIC) and the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) today finalized Zi's acquisition of Telecom Technology Centre (TTC). As a result, Zi has doubled its capacity to develop and produce customized solutions for the mobile Internet world. Zi gains further expertise in Bluetooth applications, Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to expand its technology portfolio and intensify the development of new software interface concepts around its existing eZiText™ solutions.
"TTC's five years of operations have demonstrated the advancement of the technology skills of Hong Kong's telecom engineering industry," said Thomas Tang, executive director at the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC). "Now is the time for TTC to go to the next level: Zi's worldwide marketing organization will provide an excellent platform to channel TTC's portfolio of technology solutions and engineering services. Zi's plans to expand TTC operations in Hong Kong will also benefit the local industry and ensure more products are offered to Hong Kong and overseas manufacturers."
TTC is one of Hong Kong's largest telecom technology and engineering organizations and was established in 1995 through project funding from the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSARG). TTC's mandate was to provide electronic design solutions for the local telecom industry. After a competitive bidding process, Zi acquired TTC for US$3.2 million (HK$25 million) in cash. TTC's contribution to Zi's revenue stream includes non-recurring engineering fees and royalties. TTC's customer and partner base includes IBM, Toshiba, Ericsson, Samsung, Pantech, Shintom and ZhongXing.
"Zi will leverage TTC's technical capability, which is ranked among Asia's best, to assert our position as the leader in user interface for the mobile Internet world," says Antoine Blondeau, president and chief operating officer, Zi Corporation. "This acquisition will give Zi the tactical skills to extend beyond text input and offer a range of crucial technologies such as WAP applications and Bluetooth modules."
The acquisition of TTC establishes a Hong Kong based research and development centre for Zi, with a team of 30 engineers. Zi will capitalize on TTC's core competencies in the areas of: protocol stack software, user interface applications, digital signal processing (DSP), development of application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), radio design and system integration and support.
"Zi Corporation's acquisition of TTC and its expansion plans in Hong Kong are a vote of confidence in Hong Kong as a centre of innovation and technology. We are glad to see major overseas software corporations selecting the territory as a research and development base for their activities," commented Mike Arnold, acting commissioner for Innovation and Technology of the government of the HKSAR.
Zi Corporation is a leading provider of embedded software technology and educational products and services. The company's core product, eZiText™ connects people to short messaging, e-mail, e-commerce, Web browsing and similar applications in 26 languages. Zi's wholly owned subsidiary, Oztime.com, is China's first education service provider (ESP). Zi supports its strategic partners from offices in Calgary, Beijing, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Shenzhen and Stockholm. A publicly traded company, Zi Corporation is listed on the NASDAQ National Market (ZICA) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (ZIC).-30-
For further information, please contact:
Karen Attwell
Manager, Investor/Media Relations
Phone: (403) 233-8875
Email: investor@zicorp.com
Web site: www.zicorp.com
Mrs. Betty Lee
General Manager
Corporate Communications and Events
Hong Kong Productivity Council
Tel. (852) 2788-6202
Fax. (852) 2788-5056
Web site: www.hkpc.org