Acer Licenses Palm OS Operating System Industry Leaders Expand Leading Handheld Platform to Chinese Speaking Customer in Asia Pacific Region and China TAIPEI, June 1 /PRNewswire Asia-AsiaNet/ -- Acer and Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM) today announced that Acer has licensed the Palm OS(R) operating system through 2005. Acer will use the Palm OS platform to deliver its first Acer Mobile Device, expected later this year as part of Acer's Mobile Data Strategy -- a vision aimed at providing easy wireless access and exchange of enterprise and personal information via a handheld computer. With this move, Acer and Palm further expand the industry's leading handheld platform and Palm Economy development opportunities to a new population of customers and developers in the Asia Pacific Region and China. As part of the agreement, Acer and Palm plan to work together to deliver local language versions of the Palm OS platform for customers in the Asia Pacific Region and China. Recently confirmed as Asia's No.1 computer "SuperBrand" for the third consecutive year by Reader's Digest subscribers, Acer aims to use the world-leading Palm OS platform as a key weapon in its plan to develop the Asia Pacific mobile device market. Acer said it chose the Palm OS platform because of its power and superior flexibility for easy expansion and adaptation by enterprise users and consumers worldwide. Acer expects developers in the Asia Pacific Region and China to join the Palm Economy by creating localized Palm OS platform applications for users in those parts of the world. The Palm Economy currently has 155,000 software developers and 10,000 applications available today. "Acer's long-term business plan is to be a major player in the mobile data industry -- not just in the device market, but also as an infrastructure and end-to-end mobile solutions provider," said J.T. Wang, president of Acer Brand Operation (ABO). "We believe that this strategic alliance with Palm will help give us a strong start when we launch our first mobile device, while also enhancing Palm's value in the small and medium business market and in Asia Pacific." "Working with Acer to expand our operating system into the Asia Pacific Region is a very important component of our strategy," said Alan Kessler, general manager of the Platform Solutions Group at Palm, Inc. "Acer's work to localize the power of the Palm OS platform for the Asian markets will increase our presence here and bring new and exciting handheld options to customers in the Asia Pacific Region and China." About the Acer Group Established in 1976, Acer is among the world's top ten PC vendors, offering a broad range of PC products from industry-leading high-end PC servers and multimedia desktop computers to notebooks, computer peripherals and components. Acer is also a major Internet-enabler, providing Internet component technologies, devices and services. These include end-to-end solutions, mobile phones, plasma displays, TFT LCDs, projectors, wireless communications, and e-corp solutions. The Acer Group employs nearly 35,000 people in 232 enterprises spanning 41 countries worldwide, supporting dealers and distributors in over 100 nations. Acer Group revenues were US$9.9 billion in 2000. For more information about the Acer Group, please visit our website at http://www.acer.com About Palm, Inc. Palm, Inc. is a pioneer in the field of mobile and wireless Internet solutions and a leading provider of handheld computers, according to IDC (December 2000). Based on the Palm OS(R) platform, Palm's handheld solutions allow people to carry and access their most critical information with them wherever they go. Palm(TM) handhelds address the needs of individuals, enterprises and educational institutions through thousands of application solutions. The Palm OS platform is also the foundation for products from Palm's licensees and strategic partners, such as Franklin Covey, HandEra (formerly TRG), Handspring, IBM, Kyocera, Sony, and Symbol Technologies. Platform licensees also include Nokia and Samsung. The Palm Economy is a growing global community of industry-leading licensees, world-class OEM customers, and more than 155,000 innovative developers and solution providers that have registered to develop solutions based on the Palm OS platform. Palm went public on March 2, 2000. Its stock is traded on the Nasdaq national market under the symbol PALM. More information is available at http://www.palm.com. Acer and the Acer logo are registered trademarks of Acer Incorporated. Palm OS is a registered trademark and Palm is a trademark of Palm, Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks, registered trademarks and/or service marks, indicated or otherwise, are the properties of their respective owners. SOURCE: Acer Inc. CONTACT: David Tsai, Acer, PR Associate Director of Marketing, +886-2-8691-1844, or fax, +886-2-8691-2944, or [email protected], or Ronni Sarmanian of Palm, Inc., +1-408-326-0600, or fax, +1-408-326-5009, or [email protected] Web Site: http://www.acer.com http://www.palm.com