Press Releases

Reinforces MontaVista drive to target next-generation consumer products

SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 12, 2002 - MontaVista Software, the company powering the embedded revolution announced it had received an equity investment from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (MEI) through its subsidiary, Panasonic Digital Concepts Center (PDCC).

MontaVista Software is focused on meeting the needs of developers of the next generation digital consumer devices. Development of consumer products such as mobile smart phones, wireless PDAs, set-top boxes and more are characterized by the demand for smaller footprints, improved performance, lower power consumption, flexible and scalable architectures, robustness and openness. Using proprietary solutions, these new consumer devices are not merely more complex but in fact more costly to design and develop. MontaVista Software offers a portfolio of Linux-based solutions, which can minimize deployment cost and time to market constraints.

"As embedded applications become more network oriented, consumer electronics companies are looking to Linux as a robust and cost-effective development platform," said Charles C. Wu, Managing Director, Investments, of PDCC. "Panasonic Digital Concepts Center recognizes the tremendous traction that MontaVista has gained in the increasingly important area of embedded software solutions. We look forward to a strategic relationship that will meld MontaVista Software’s strengths with Panasonic’s global leadership in consumer electronics."

MEI joins a list of high-profile investors, including IBM, Sony, US Venture Partners, and others who also invested in MontaVista Software in its third round of funding announced earlier this year.
(Refer to http://www.mvista.com/news/2002/MV_Fund.html)

"Consumer electronics and communications infrastructure are the two markets we believe hold the most opportunity for Linux," said Jim Ready, MontaVista CEO and embedded industry pioneer. "Manufacturers of high-volume, competitively priced consumer electronics devices especially appreciate the non-proprietary nature of Linux, which does not lock them in to paying royalties and licensing fees."

MontaVista™ Linux®

MontaVista Linux, the company’s flagship product boasts unrivaled development support for the broadest range of embedded processor architectures, supporting more than 22 CPUs, over a dozen desktop hosts, more than 60 COTS and reference board platforms and including in excess of 215 application packages. This feature-rich product enables a wide variety of embedded applications, providing a standard platform for designs in communications infrastructure, networking, consumer electronics, instrumentation and control.

Panasonic Digital Concepts Center

Panasonic Digital Concepts Center is a business unit of New Jersey-based Panasonic Technologies Co, which is itself a division of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America. The Center directs Matsushita Electric investment and incubates technologies and services that provide value for the next generation of networked consumers. Drawing on Matsushita Electric's rich consumer electronics heritage and the Panasonic brand name, the Center brings a consumer sensibility to Silicon Valley technology innovations. Panasonic Digital Concepts Center offers its early-stage portfolio companies incubator facilities in Cupertino and San Francisco CA, start-up expertise, and access to service providers including Matsushita Electric's deep manufacturing and R&D resources. In addition, Matsushita Electric recently renewed its' commitment to support the growth of the Center’s portfolio companies by initiating Phase II of the Panasonic Venture fund. Panasonic Digital Concepts Center also serves as a home base for various Matsushita Electric divisions seeking to develop alliances with key Silicon Valley partners. Additional information is available at http://www.vc.panasonic.com

Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, Ltd. ("Panasonic")

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC), best known for its Panasonic brand, is a worldwide leader in the development of technologies for and the production of electronic and electric products for consumer, business and industrial use. The company recorded sales of $61.45 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001. Additional information Matsushita Electric and its Panasonic brand products is available at www.panasonic.com.

About MontaVista Software Inc.

MontaVista Software Inc. powers the embedded revolution by providing open-source systems software solutions for embedded developers. Founded in 1999 by real-time operating system (RTOS) pioneer James Ready, MontaVista's principal products include MontaVista™ Linux®, a Linux-based embedded source and binary distribution, cross development platform and set of tool kits for x86/IA-32, PowerPC, StrongARM, MIPS, SH, ARM, XScale and other microprocessor architectures. MontaVista offers a family of products and services for embedded design and development of applications for a variety of technologies ranging from communications infrastructure to consumer devices. MontaVista Software also provides several technology add-on products addressing specific customer needs such as the Java development environment, High Availability technology, powerful graphics toolkits and more.

Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley in Sunnyvale, Calif., MontaVista Software is a privately held company funded by leading investors such as Alloy Ventures, RRE Ventures, US Venture Partners, and WR Hambrecht + Co., as well as IBM, Intel Capital and Sony Corporation. For more information about MontaVista Software, please visit http://www.mvista.com, email to info@mvista.com or call (408) 328-9200.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. MontaVista is a trademark of MontaVista Software Inc. All other names mentioned are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective companies.

Contacts:

Panasonic Digital Concepts Center:
Patricia Carberry-Harris
Panasonic Digital Concepts Center
pch@vc.panasonic.com
408-861-3909

MontaVista Software:
Joe Samagond
Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications
MontaVista Software Inc.
Phone (408) 328-9234
E-mail: jsamagond@mvista.com

Patricia Colby
PR Strategy and Business Development
Pacifico Inc.
Phone (408) 293-8600 ext. 340
E-mail: pcolby@pacifico.com