Cogo Announces Series of Automotive Electronics Design Wins with Leading Chinese Manufacturer BYD
* Expanding into New Industrial Application Verticals
SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 12 -- Cogo Group, Inc. , a leading platform services provider for the technology and industrial sectors in China, today announced a series of module design wins within the automotive sector. Cogo, in conjunction with its partner, a leading global semiconductor supplier for the auto industry, will provide highly technical module and software solutions for a variety of applications, including intelligent key/locks, dynamic vehicle control, airbags, multimedia AV systems, tire pressuring monitoring systems, and radar systems, among others.
Currently, Cogo has design wins in BYD's sedan models focused on the conventional domestic China market, as well as its hybrid and pure electrical sedans for the high-end domestic and export market segments. BYD is the rising star among Chinese auto makers. Its compact F3 sedan has been a top selling model for several months this year and sold over 30,000 units in the month of October.
Cogo believes that reducing energy consumption will be a focus for all leading Chinese auto manufacturers in the years to come, leading to an increasing number of hybrid and pure electrical models coming to market. Cogo expects to provide customized solutions to meet the increasing demand for automobile efficiency. Cogo also expects to begin recording auto electronics revenue in 2010 and anticipates a meaningful revenue ramp in this segment through 2010 and beyond.
"Since Cogo's Industrial Applications business first became a reportable business segment in the first quarter of 2008, it has grown to nearly 14% of sales and we expect that it will continue to grow much faster than the overall company through 2010 and beyond, " said Jeffrey Kang, CEO and Chairman of Cogo. "The current revenue mix within our Industrial Applications segment is focused on the build-out of China's Smart Power Grid, high speed railways and the roll-out of Smart Meters. We expect that the inclusion of new verticals, like auto electronics, will help to accelerate our growth in this segment."
"BYD has been a key long-term partner of Cogo and we are very excited about working with them on a number of future automobiles. We also expect more design wins with other automobile manufacturers as we aggressively pursue this new vertical within our Industrial business," Mr Kang added. "We believe that the worst of the China economic situation is behind us and expect that Cogo will accelerate its revenue growth in 2010 versus 2009 while continuing to see operating margin expansion."
China is the world leader in automobile sales, with 10.9 million vehicles sold over the first ten months of the year, up 38% from the same period last year. China auto sales in October were 1.22 million, up 72% from the same period in the previous year(1).
About Cogo Group, Inc.:
Cogo Group, Inc. is a leading provider of customized module and subsystem design solutions in China. The Company believes it acts as a proxy to China's technology industry as it works with virtually all the major ODMs and OEMs in China. Cogo leverages these relationships and combines their IP to create designs that Cogo then sells to electronic manufacturers. These designs allow manufacturers to reduce their time to market for new products and ultimately increase sales. Cogo focuses on the telecommunications equipment, digital media and industrial applications end-markets for their customized design modules while also offering business and engineering services to their large telecommunications equipment vendor customers. Over the last twelve years, Cogo has grown its customer list to include nearly 1,300 manufacturers across the telecommunications equipment, digital media and industrial applications markets, covering both multinational Chinese subsidiaries and Chinese domestic companies.
For further information: Investor Relations www.cogo.com.cn/investorinfo.html Safe Harbor Statement:
This press release includes certain statements that are not descriptions of historical facts, but are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements may include statements about our proposed discussions related to our business or growth strategy such as growth in industrial applications, digital media, mobile handset and telecommunications businesses, such as business with BYD, which are subject to change. Such information is based upon expectations of our management that were reasonable when made, but may prove to be incorrect. All such assumptions are inherently subject to uncertainties and contingencies beyond our control and upon assumptions with respect to future business decisions, which are subject to change. For further descriptions of other risks and uncertainties, see our most recent Annual Report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Form 10-K, and our subsequent SEC filings. Copies of filings made with the SEC are available through the SEC's electronic data gathering analysis retrieval system (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov.
(1) China Association of Automobile Manufacturers