Aachen, June 5, 1997

ELSA and UMAX Enter Strategic Partnership

German and Taiwanese manufacturers announce their close cooperation in the market for professional graphics products

Aachen, Germany - Far eastern operations of the Data Communications and Computer Graphics specialists ELSA are going from strength to strength. A strategic partner for collaboration has been found in the renowned company UMAX Data Systems, Inc., which is enjoying great success with its high-performance PCs for the CAD/CAM, 3D rendering and visualization industries.

The top model of the UmaxStation 6000 workstation range is now equipped with the high-performance graphics board GLoria™-L from ELSA, a board designed to meet the toughest demands of the visualization professionals. The GLoria-L offers not only exhilarating graphics quality at ultra-high resolutions, but also a level of 3D performance comparable with other, far higher-priced professional workstations.

Thomas Retzlaff, ELSA's Director of Overseas Operations: "With their Intel Pentium II-based graphics workstations, UMAX is pushing into the PC workstation market and is thus the ideal partner for ELSA in the Far East. The direct cooperation between UMAX and ELSA's Taipei subsidiary provides the best foundation for a close business relationship, not only in Asia."

Paul Lai, UMAX's Director of Product Marketing, PC and Workstation Group: "UMAX is happy to have found a strong partner for cooperation in ELSA, a company which has made a good name for itself on the graphics market. While we were looking for a very fast graphics board for our top-of-the-range graphics workstation, the UmaxStation 6000G, we decided early on that the ELSA GLoria-L is the board for us, as it comes with some of the fastest and most comprehensive high-quality driver software currently available."

UMAX employs more than 1200 people in Taiwan, and over 27% of these are involved with research and development. ELSA will maintain close contact with UMAX via the ELSA subsidiary in Taipei, Taiwan, which was instrumental in setting up this business relationship right from the start.

ELSA AG is a privately-owned company based in Aachen, Germany, with subsidiaries in San Jose, California, and Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1980, ELSA has built up a world-renowned reputation for applying advanced engineering expertise to computer graphics and data communications products.