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| INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY SECTOR 3DSP Corporation (02/00, Irvine, California) Founded in 1997, 3DSP is a service provider of DSP, IP, and SOC. Dataquest has projected the annual growth rate of DSP at 30% annually for the next five years, compared to the 15% growth rate projected for the entire semiconductor industry. Steve Kim, former CEO/co-founder of Xylan, with a successful IPO and M&A track record, will assume the CEO position of 3DSP. In addition, Alcatel, the leading French telecom company, also invested in 3DSP. AOpen Inc. (01/99, Taipei, Taiwan) Founded in 1996, AOpen is a recognized leading manufacturer of motherboard, optical disc drive (e.g. CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-RAM, etc.), computer housing, and multi-media related products (e.g. VGA card, sound card, video conferencing, modem, etc.). AOpen aims to provide total component solution services to its customers. It has built strong distribution channels in its targeted markets, U.S. and Europe. Sales turnover has nearly doubled in 1999, up to $441 million from $230 million in 1998. Advance Creative Computer Corp. (06/98, Taipei, Taiwan) Founded in 1994, Advance Creative Computer ("ACC") manufactures main-boards, personal computers and workstations. Products developed included dual CPU main-boards, Quad main-boards, and file servers and spare workstations. Major markets include North and Southeast Asia, Australia, Eastern and Western Europe, the Soviet Union, Africa and North America. ACC is taking advantage of E-commerce opportunities with a B2C sales channel launched in Decembeer, 1999. AmTran Technology Co., Ltd. (10/97, Taipei, Taiwan) Founded in 1994, AmTran is engaged in the manufacturing of 17"-21" CRT monitors and 12.1"-18" LCD monitors. AmTran's President, Mr. Alpha Wu, formerly and founder of MAG (a TSE listed company), is recognized as a veteran in Taiwan's monitor industry. AmTran is positioned as a leading edge supplier in display technology, and has a creative R&D team in the display field. Major customers include ViewSonic (leading U.S. monitor producer), NEC, Toshiba, and Sharp. Sales turnover and net profit were $184 million and $8 million, respectively, in 1999. AmTran recently acquired a new plant. AmTran was listed on the Taiwan OTC in October, 1999. As of April 30, 2000, Fortune Venture's 4.76% stake in AmTran was $11.6 million. Axiom Technology Co., Ltd.(09/98, Taipei, Taiwan) Founded in 1990, Axiom is engaged in the development and manufacturing of PC-based industrial automation products. Axiom maintanins stable growth and sales turnover increased to $22 million in 1999 from $18 million in 1998. EFA Corp. (09/97, Chunli, Taiwan) Founded in 1981, EFA is engaged in the manufacture of Sega 16 bits, MEGA drives, amd Genesis componets. New products launched include an Internet service phone, 56K modem, ISDN phone system, cable TV decoder system and set-top-box. EFA will adopt new technology from Japan and France to produce set-top-box chipsets for SGS-Thomson and its digital tuner. In cooperation with foreign companies with advanced technolgies, EFA will be involved in the development of satellite receivers. Sales are expected to grow significantly with the launching of two new products, a set-top-box and Internet service phone. As of October 1999, annual sales were $40 million. EverFocus Electronics Corporation (09/97, Taipei, Taiwan) Founded in 1995, EverFocus is engaged in the manufacture of security cameras and image processors. Major products include black and white security cameras, color cameras, quad processors, amd multiplexors. Sales are through OEM manufacturers and distributors worldwide. As of November 1999, EverFocus had annualized sales of $14 million. Gigastorage Corporation (03/99, Hsinchu, Taiwan) Founded in March, 1997, Gigastorage is a professional optical disc manufacturer dedicated to the creation of best technology, product quality and product image. Under the leadership of Mr. Daniel Kuo, Chairman, and a team of experts including Dr. Jerry Chen, Dr. James Liang, and Dr. Stephen Yang, Gigastorage has grown very rapidly with sales of $38 million in 1999 (up from $13 million in 1998) with a net profit margin of approximately 35%. As of April 30, 2000, Fortune Venture's 0.76% stake in Gigastorage was worth $0.5 million. Integrated Technology Express, Inc. (03/98, Hsinchu, Taiwan) Founded in 1998, Integrated Technology Express ("ITE") is engaged in the designing and manufacture of super I/O, notebook chipset, and Window CE chipset for worldwide customers. ITE was formerly a Computer Division of UMC (second largest foundry in the world). After its spin-off, UMC has continued its support of ITE. A newly launched product, Window CE chipset, was co-developed with strategic partners including Microsoft and Hitachi, and is said to be the first of such products in the world. Currently, super I/O accounts for 70% of ITE's tatal sales turnover. ITE is recognized as the premier chipest manufactruer in Taiwan (and among the top three in the world ) with a world market share of 40%. To further diversify, ITE has aggressively entered into new products including Internet related fields (LCD control chipset, embedded micro processors, set-top-box system integration, etc.). IXMICRO Corporation (10/96, San Jose, California) Founded in 1991, IXMICRO is a leading manufacturer of high-performace multimedia accelerators and high-speed ATM networking and related communcation technologies for real-time multimedia processing and networking. Major products include 3D graphic acceleration cards for PC and MAC, ATM NIC cards, ethernet switches, and video servers. In 1998, IXMICRO's Communations Division was spun off to form a new company, 3CX, which mainly develops software that delivers complete streaming media solutions to schools and universties, corporations and medical centers. In December 1999, it sold 75% of its equity, along with its broadband communication CPE divisions to Broadwan, Inc. with a total valuation of $6 million, and acquired six million shares of Broadwan. Pixera Corporation (03/97, San Jose, California) Founded is 1995, Pixera is engaged in the manufacture of digital visual communication systems. Initial product lines include microscopy camera and computer/motebook cameras. Both cameras are integrated with Pixera's visual communication suite software. Major sales and distribution networks consist of OEMs and systems integrators, direct resellers and VARs. Pretec Corporation (05/97, Hsinchu, Taiwan) Founded in 1990, Pretec is engaged in the manufacture of still cameras, date modules, and auto-focus modules. Principal products include 350K pixel, 800K pixel, and 1.3M pixel digital still cameras, which are mainly sold through OEM/ODM, representatives and distributors worldwide. In December 1999, Premier Camera Taiwan (a Taiwan OTC listed cmopany) announced its plan to merge with Pretec through a share swap, with an anticipated closing in July 2000. Premier's shares will be exchangeable for Pretec's shares at a ratio of 1 for 3. Premier is the largest OEM/ODM manufacturer of traditional cameras in the world with estimated 1999 sales revenue of$0.3 billion. With the merger of Pretec, Premier will expand into digital camera production, which in turn is expected to increase its sales turnover by approximately 15% in 2000. As of April 30, 2000, Fortune Venture's 31.22% stake in Pretec was worth $ 2.9 million. Smart ASIC Technology Inc. (09/99, Taipei, Taiwan) Founded in 1998, Smart ASIC is engaged in the manufacture of LCD controller ICs. It is estimated that Smart ASIC supplies 8% to 10% of market demand (and approximately 40% of Taiwan's market demand) for LCD controlletr ICs. In addition to its currect focus on the 15" LCD controller IC, the Digital TV Control IC will be launched in the second half of 2000. As the growth of LCD nomitors increases, as evidenced by the increase of sales from $1.2 million is 1998 to $4.0 million in 1999, the demand for LCD control ICs should also increase. Uniwill Computer Corp. (11/98, Taoyang, Taipei) Founded in 1998, Uniwill Computer is engaged in the design and manufacture of notebook PCs as well as mini-notebooks, with OEM/ODM as its target market. In a recent news release, Uniwill announced that it will act as an OEM for E-Machie (ranked in the top five, in terms of market share, in the U.S.) to produce its low cost motebook PCs. Uniwill is further enhancing its competitive edge in producing NB and IA through the recent alliance with SCI (USA) |
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