NOVATO, Calif., Aug. 5, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- SpatiaLight, Inc. (Nasdaq:HDTV), a manufacturer of state-of-the-art liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) microdisplay products, announced today that it has completed an important step for building and operating a large-scale manufacturing facility in the Gyeongnam province in the Republic of Korea, by entering into an agreement with the province. The facility will serve as SpatiaLight's central commercial manufacturing base, with research and development operations to continue in the United States. Gyeongnam province is a region with an elite industrial infrastructure with a 30-year track record of being a driving force in Korea's rapid economic growth. Today's news follows SpatiaLight's announcement last month that it had entered into a supply agreement with LG Electronics, Inc., a global leader in television and electronics manufacturing based in Seoul, Korea.
SpatiaLight Receives Valuable Economic Incentives from Gyeongnam Province
The parties to the agreement are SpatiaLight, its newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary SpatiaLight Korea, Inc. (SLK), the Gyeongnam provincial government and the Sacheon city government. The territory in which SpatiaLight will construct its manufacturing facility has been designated a "Free Economic Zone" by the Korean national government in order to spur foreign investment. SpatiaLight will join industry leaders with manufacturing operations in Free Economic Zones within Gyeongnam province, including British American Tobacco, Nokia and Scania. Other leading companies with manufacturing and production operations in Gyeongnam province include Sony, Samsung and Volvo.
Under the terms of the agreement, SpatiaLight will receive numerous economic incentives in consideration for locating its high-tech manufacturing facility in Gyeongnam province. Key incentives to SpatiaLight include a 50-year 100% land lease exemption, income tax breaks, employee recruitment and training subsidies, equipment acquisition subsidies and expedition of permitting processes.
Governor Tae Ho Kim, recently elected in Gyeongnam province, commented, "As we continue our aggressive drive to attract quality high-tech companies into our region, we are excited that SpatiaLight, standing at the avant-garde of the high definition microdisplay business, has decided to locate its central manufacturing operation here. I am confident that with Gyeongnam's highly developed infrastructure, industrial cooperative system and abundant and skilled manpower, our province's relationship with SpatiaLight will be mutually beneficial for many years to come."
SpatiaLight is now finalizing a long-term lease for 8.3 acres of land in Gyeongnam province on which the Company will immediately commence operations to construct its expandable 25,000 square foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to serve as its center for global manufacturing operations. SpatiaLight expects to hire at least 200 manufacturing employees within six months of having its factory in operation. The opening of the new manufacturing facility will be for the purpose of greatly expanding SpatiaLight's manufacturing capacity and the Company will not layoff any of its employees in the United States as a result.
Mayor Soo-Young Kim of the city of Sacheon commented, "SpatiaLight is a rapidly growing technology business with a demonstrated record of producing cutting edge display technology. We are very pleased that they have determined to build their new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility within a designated Free Economic Zone located in our city. I am quite certain that our highly skilled labor force will be of great service to SpatiaLight's manufacturing operations."
Dr. David Hakala, chief operating officer of SpatiaLight, stated, "SpatiaLight is excited about taking these important steps forward in our march to full-scale manufacturing. Lee Simonson, a Best Buy executive, was recently quoted on Forbes.com predicting that 2005 will be 'the year for LCoS' in the high definition television space and establishing our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Korea at this time will allow us to be at the forefront of this industry direction. This facility will allow us to aggressively pursue our goal of providing television OEMs with the most cost effective, high resolution microdisplay products available in the industry."
Je-Won Yeun Hired as President of SLK to Lead Construction and Manufacturing Operations
Je-Won Yeun was recently hired to serve as president of SpatiaLight Korea, Inc., where he will lead the effort to construct and operate SpatiaLight's manufacturing facility. Mr. Yeun, 52, is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in managing and directing large manufacturing operations, mostly for various divisions of the Hyundai Group. With a degree in physics from Sung Kyun Kwan University, Mr. Yeun began his career as an engineer at Philips Electronics Co, Ltd. He then joined Hyundai Group as a senior engineer, contributing to the design and construction of liquid transfer systems for nuclear and thermal power plants. Mr. Yeun then served the bulk of his career within Hyundai Group as a senior level manager and director of several manufacturing and construction operations. For the past three years, Mr. Yeun has served as president and chief executive officer of two Korean enterprises -- Kyoung Won Co., Ltd., a designer and manufacturer of high voltage power transformers and Kang Lim Construction Co., Ltd., a major construction firm.
Dr. Hakala stated, "Mr. Yeun has a proven track record of success in the construction and manufacturing businesses. His unique combination of senior management-level experience in both construction and technology manufacturing makes him well suited to lead both the execution of SpatiaLight's manufacturing facility plan as well as our ramp up to mass production."
Je-Won Yeun, president of SLK, stated, "It is a high honor to join SpatiaLight at this time of growth and expansion. I am thrilled to help lead the Company's transition into full-scale manufacturing. I know what it takes to build and run a successful manufacturing operation and I am confident that SpatiaLight will accomplish this in Gyeongnam province."
About SpatiaLight, Inc.
SpatiaLight, Inc., founded in 1989, manufactures high-resolution LCoS microdisplays for use in High Definition televisions and rear projection monitors. The Company's proprietary SpatiaLight imagEngine(tm) LCoS microdisplays represent a solution for OEMs of large-screen rear projection monitors, home theater projection systems, video projectors, and other display applications. Utilizing more than 6.2 million pixels, SpatiaLight's LCoS Sets are designed to be incorporated into High Definition televisions and rear projection monitors. A SpatiaLight display unit, another Company product, is comprised of three SpatiaLight imagEngine(tm) microdisplays fitted onto a light engine designed by SpatiaLight and Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd. and manufactured by Fuji. SpatiaLight currently manufactures two models of its LCoS microdisplays. The "T-1" model has an active matrix of 1280 pixels by 960 pixels configuration and the newer generation "T-3" model has an active matrix of 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels configuration. SpatiaLight is committed to developing microdisplay technologies that will become the standard for the next generation of rear projection display devices and to providing OEMs with the most cost effective, high resolution microdisplays in the industry. For more information about SpatiaLight, please see the Company web site: www.spatialight.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release includes forward-looking statements that reflect SpatiaLight's current expectations about its future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. SpatiaLight has tried to identify these forward-looking statements by using words and phrases such as "may," "will," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "plan," "should," "typical," "preliminary," "we are confident" or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to SpatiaLight and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause SpatiaLight's actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities in the remainder of 2004 and beyond to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are outlined in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q.