Friday May 25, 2:00 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Spatializer Audio Laboratories Inc.
Spatializer Audio Laboratories Inc. Convenes Annual Shareholders Meeting Today With Focus on Leveraging Top Line Growth Into Enhanced Profitability
CEO Mandell Says Spatializer Soft Audio Solutions Provide OEMs a Tactical Edge In Today's Competitive Market on Price, Flexibility, Performance And Ease of Implementation
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Spatializer Audio Laboratories Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SPAZ - news) met today with shareholders at the Woodland Hills Hilton to review the past year's progress and define strategic initiatives for the coming year.
(Photo: newscom.com newscom.com )
Spatializer Chairman and CEO Henry R. Mandell told the company's shareholders that the Spatializer Audio Laboratories brand is now recognized as the ``de facto'' standard in virtual surround sound within the global DVD market. ``Our vision is to extend the Spatializer brand broadly as the 'de facto' standard in digital audio enhancement. No matter which new market or digital platform emerges, Spatializer has a ready solution to enhance the audio experience,'' Mandell declared. ``Our ultimate objective is to leverage the resulting dominance in these new market segments into greater profitability and enhanced shareholder value.''
Mandell told the shareholders to expect more multiple relationships in the future, such as the collaboration with Texas Instruments and the ``force multiplier'' marketing initiative with ReignCom. ``We provide easily implemented, turn-key audio enhancement solutions to OEMs that elevate the consumer's satisfaction while providing bottom line building benefits to the OEM,'' Mandell explained. ``We positioned ourselves as the audio specialists and problem solvers to OEMs whose internal audio engineering resources are spread thin.''
Mandell asserts that there is a paradigm shift afoot: ``Design engineers can deliver natural sound to the consumer the hard way ... or the easy way: They either design around expensive discrete analog chips ... or leverage the power of the DSP with psycho-acoustic software from Spatializer. Spatializer digital solutions provide the edge on price, flexibility, ease of implementation and total quality listening experience.''
Mandell reported that Spatializer's revenues increased 33 percent last year. Revenues for the year rose to $2,202,000, compared to $1,660,000 in the comparable period last year. Net income for fiscal 2000 was $382,000, or $0.01 per share, compared to net income of $355,000, $0.01 per share in the prior year.
``Two years ago we lost nearly $6 million,'' Mandell explained. ``Although it wasn't a walk in the park this past year, we remained nicely profitable, delivering a 17 percent return on net sales. At year-end, we had $1,651,000 in shareholders equity, compared to $768,000 at the end of 1999 -- an increase of 115 percent. Two years ago we had a significant deficit. Our working capital at year end was $1,195,000 compared with a working capital of only $395,000 last year -- that's a 203 percent increase.''
Last year, Mandell said that he laid out four broad objectives for Spatializer:
1. Establish Spatializer N-2-2(TM) as the de facto virtual surround sound
standard;
2. Dominate the market for audio enhancement in portable music devices;
3. Expand e-commerce opportunities for StreamFX(TM) on the Internet; and
4. Extend Spatializer technology applications to emerging markets.
``We tested the market and evaluated these objectives. We opportunistically capitalized on industry trends,'' Mandell told shareholders. ``I'm happy to tell you today that ... despite a very challenging year for technology companies in general ... we have achieved many of the viable objectives that were outlined.
``Without doubt, Spatializer N-2-2(TM) is now the 'de facto' standard for virtual surround sound within the global DVD player market. We successfully effected design wins with Hitachi and DVD-RW. We successfully launched NUON(TM) software with Toshiba and Samsung and completed the Ziva 5(TM) design-in,'' Mandell said. ``But we still have our work cut out for us as we pursue our strategy for dominating other audio applications, including set top boxes, Internet appliances, digital TV and portable devices.''
Mandell added that the IP protection and engineering issues became hurdles to penetrating the portable music device market. He explained that Japanese manufacturers have taken a go-slow approach as a result. OEMs have also insisted on evaluating software on the actual processor to be used, rather than laptop demonstrations, as had been the practice. As a result, the licensing process within the industry moves very slowly and the markets for MP3 players and Internet appliances are still developing.
``We've targeted those opportunities that we felt would benefit the company most,'' Mandell pointed out. ``This strategy is paying off. We invested a lot of time and effort in building a terrific relationship with Texas Instruments. The leads generated from this relationship are remarkable. We're making headway with Cirrus, the number one audio processor foundry. We've set in motion a revamped Pacific Rim sales organization that efficiently piggybacks onto Cirrus hardware sales. And we've focused on headphone enhancement ... key to the portable market.''
To realize Spatializer's corporate vision, Mandell said that the company must evangelize the technology; that it must continue developing strategic, long-term relationships, that it must use its brand dominance to leverage growth and it must develop new products. Mandell is fervent about evangelizing Spatializer's technology. ``The Digital Revolution is upon us,'' Mandell insists. ``It's changing the way we acquire, listen to and appreciate music. The challenge is no longer how to capture sound ... but how to reproduce it as precisely and accurately as the captured original.
``I've talked about the Digital Audio Revolution in the past -- but what does it mean to Spatializer and its shareholders? It means we have the right products at the right time in the right place,'' Mandell told shareholders. ``It means that audio designers have unparalleled power and engineering flexibility at their fingertips. It means that audio enhancement software becomes a viable solution to overcoming the limitations of cost, size, frequency response and power consumption in many of today's consumer electronics. It means that Spatializer is a company whose time has arrived.''
Mandell also informed the shareholders that the company is very proud of the engineering team that has been put together. ``We're confident that the innovations and new products that are emerging from their research and development give us the competitive edge we need to expand our leadership in virtual audio software and to fully capitalize on the Digital Audio Revolution. These are the first fruits of our investment in research and development.'' Mandell advised shareholders that they could look for the following new products to be offered over the next year:
* Spatializer N-2-2(TM) v 3.0 -- which will provide extraordinary user
control,
* Spatializer Virtual Sound Processor(TM) -- a streaming enhancement with
a new twist,
* Speech/Dialogue Enhancement -- digital dialogue intelligibility and
voice centering,
* Spatializer Virtual Soundfields(TM) -- which promises to take 3D stereo
to a higher dimension.
Mandell concluded that to be successful, Spatializer must provide comprehensive audio solutions that enhance the ears and the wallet, that it must exploit its competitive advantages, that it must unleash shareholder value through profitability; and that it must stay focused ... be relentless ... and vigorously execute the company's strategic plan. ``We believe our long-term success is based on effective solutions coupled with growing these strategic bottom-line-building relationships. We're very bullish on these developments.''
About Spatializer
Spatializer Audio Laboratories Inc. is a leading developer, licensor and marketer of next-generation technologies for the consumer electronics, computing and entertainment industries. The company's advanced audio technology is incorporated into consumer electronics audio, video and DVD products from global brand leaders including Toshiba, JVC, Panasonic, Hitachi, Samsung, Acer, Sharp, Sanyo, LG, Zenith and Proton, in PC multimedia systems and peripherals from Apple and Labtec, in silicon from Matsushita, Texas Instruments, New Japan Radio Corporation, Zoran, Motorola, C-Cube, Tvia, VM Labs, LinkUp and Acer Laboratories Inc, and in software compatible with MP3 players such as WinAmp and embedded with RISC cores from MIPS Technologies. Spatializer stock is traded on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol: SPAZ. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, with marketing offices in Tokyo, Japan. Further information may be obtained from the company's web site, www.spatializer.com, Spatializer's SEC filings, and by contacting the company's Investor Relations Department toll-free at 888-825-0743 or by writing to spaz@mdcgroup.com.
Safe Harbor Act Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Certain information in this background news release, including the comments by Mr. Mandell in this press release are forward looking statements that are based on management's belief, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to management. While the company believes that its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurances that the company's financial goals will be realized. Numerous uncertainties and risk factors may affect the company's actual results and may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the company. These uncertainties and risk factors include, but are not limited to the continued need for additional capital, dependence on new technology and intellectual property, dependence on the PC and consumer electronics industries, dependence on product shipments of third-party licensees, competition and pricing pressures, and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
NOTE: Desper Products Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Spatializer Audio Laboratories Inc. Spatializer® is a registered trademark and Spatializer N-2-2(TM), Spatializer Virtual Sound Processor(TM), Spatializer Vi.B.E 2(TM), StreamFX(TM), Spatializer Virtual Soundfields(TM) are trademarks of Desper Products Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Copyright (C) 2001 Spatializer Audio Laboratories, Inc.
SOURCE: Spatializer Audio Laboratories Inc.
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