HOMENEWSPress Release Subject COWON Systems Supplies $ 9 Million Worth MP3 Players to Vertexlink of Japan per Year Date 2004.07.29 COWON Systems Supplies $ 9 Million Worth MP3 Players to Vertexlink of Japan per Year - The agreement signed with Japanese company Vertexlink to grant the exclusive right to sell Cowon's MP3 players worth $ 9 million per year - More focus to be put on brand marketing and grab 10% Japanese MP3 player market share July 29, 2004, Seoul – Cowon Systems Inc. (CEO Park, Nam-gyu, www.cowon.com ) announced on July 29 that it has struck a strategic alliance with Japanese IT goods distributor Vertexlink on July 28, and agreed to grant the Japanese distributor an exclusive right to sell Cowon's MP3 payers worth $ 9 million per year. The models to be supplied under the agreement include the latest release hard disk-type MP3 player 'iAUDIO M3', the ultra-small fashionable MP3 player 'iAUDIO U2' and the new products to be introduced down the road. In particular, iAUDIO M3 has been supplied to a large U.S. IT goods store Fry's Electronics from July and recorded the No. 1 position in sales among hard disk-type MP3 players in the survey conducted by the largest Japanese electronics distributor Yodobashi Camera. Likewise, iAUDIO M3 has received favorable reactions in the overseas markets including Japan. Meanwhile, Cowon Systems plans to concentrate its efforts on the brand marketing in the Japanese market through the strategic alliance with Vertexlink. CEO Park said, 'We will raise the brand recognition of iAUDIO in the Japan's digital audio player market. This way our customer base, which has been formulated centered on maniacs, could be expanded to include general users.' He also added, 'In the Japan's MP3 player market, hard-dick type players account for 50% of the total market. We have set a goal of taking 10% market share in Japan by next year.' Company Introduction Vertexlink is an IT goods distribution company in Japan and was founded in 1965. In the multimedia IT sector including digital audio and video, it has sealed strategic alliances with leading companies at home and abroad, and provided popular IT solutions across the entire range from product planning and production management to marketing, sales and customer support.