Kodak, SANYO and ULVAC Announce Strategic Partnership To Drive Flat Panel Display Technology

Business Wire, April 11, 2000

Business & Technology Editors

ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 11, 2000

Eastman Kodak Company, SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. and ULVAC JAPAN, Ltd. announced a strategic partnership to jointly develop organic light emitting diode (OLED) flat panel manufacturing equipment technology. This three-year agreement is the first step towards building a broad manufacturing equipment infrastructure for the production of OLED displays, a revolutionary new flat panel display technology used in advanced electronic applications.

ULVAC, a leading supplier of manufacturing equipment for the semiconductor and flat panel display industries, will use proprietary OLED manufacturing technology from Kodak and SANYO as the framework for the development of flat panel manufacturing equipment. Kodak and SANYO announced an agreement in February of 1999, to jointly develop next generation OLED displays.

This alliance combines ULVAC's understanding of vacuum deposition equipment used in the manufacturing of thin films, Kodak's expertise in OLED technology and SANYO's experience in manufacturing high-quality flat panel displays. Kodak, SANYO and ULVAC are speeding the delivery to market of OLED technology as a worldwide standard for advanced displays.

"This is an important step in providing integrated, cost-effective OLED display manufacturing capabilities to our customers while defining industry guidelines for this advanced technology," said Carl F. Kohrt, Executive Vice President, Assistant Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technical Officer, Eastman Kodak Company. "By partnering with ULVAC JAPAN and furthering our collaboration with SANYO, Kodak strengthens its position as the leading developer of next generation OLED technology."

Under the agreement, Kodak, SANYO and ULVAC will manufacture and/or develop:

-- OLED display encapsulation and packaging equipment

-- Equipment designs for increasing machine throughput

(productivity)

-- Manufacturing equipment subsystems for color pixelation

-- Equipment for next generation (larger) glass substrates

-- Standardized equipment and processes for an emerging OLED

industry

-- "Turnkey" production systems

"We are very excited that this agreement allows us to develop advanced manufacturing technology for the emerging organic EL display market partnering with Kodak and ULVAC," said Yukinori Kuwano, president of SANYO Semiconductor Company. "We have succeeded in developing active matrix type full-color organic EL display through an agreement with Kodak concluded last year. Now we believe that collaboration of the three will enable us to deliver such display products to the market quickly to meet growing customers needs."

"Combining the strengths of the three companies enables our target customers throughout the world to deploy OLED technology in their electronic applications on pace with consumer demand," said Dr. Kyuzo Nakamura, President, ULVAC JAPAN, Ltd.

Pioneered by Kodak in the late 1980s, the development of OLED technology for practical applications has generated more than 50 Kodak OLED patents. Kodak OLED licensees include: Emagin Corporation; Nippon Seiki; Pioneer Corporation; SANYO Electric Co., LTD., a Kodak joint development partner and TDK Corporation.

OLED displays have already been commercialized in car audio equipment, and plans have been announced to introduce cell phones with color OLEDs this year. Through licensing and materials sales, OLED represents a new revenue growth opportunity. According to Stanford Resources, Inc. and Strategies Unlimited's 2000 report entitled, Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs): Technology Trends and Display Market Assessment: "The worldwide OLED display market is forecast to increase from several hundred thousand units, valued at $3 million, in 1999 to more than 100 million units, valued at $714 million, in 2005." Numerous companies throughout the world are developing the technology and this agreement between Kodak, SANYO, and ULVAC will help establish the equipment infrastructure needed to build this new industry quickly.

About SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.

SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. is one of the global consumer electronics giants while also leading the way in innovations that is expanding multimedia product technology. SANYO continues to advance business enterprise development, supplying world-class electronic products to satisfy rapidly evolving markets. SANYO's businesses cover a broad range of multimedia and information systems, home appliances, commercial equipment, electronic devices, batteries and other products. SANYO's net sales in fiscal 1999, ended in March 31, 1999, amounted to 1,818.2 billion yen (US$15,151 million). The SANYO group is truly an international organization, consisting of about 150 affiliates employing over 110,000 persons globally. For further information, visit SANYO Electric's homepage at URL http://www.sanyo.co.jp.

About ULVAC JAPAN, Ltd.

ULVAC JAPAN, Ltd. is a worldwide company developing and manufacturing high-vacuum systems and equipment for the semiconductor, electronics, optical, metallurgical, chemical, pharmaceutical and food industries. It is a major supplier to manufacturers of LCD displays. ULVAC has development, production, sales and customer service operations throughout the world.