EXHIBIT 99.1
news release
[SONIC SOLUTIONS LOGO]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
February 28, 2001 Paul Lefebvre, Sonic Solutions
415.893.8000 phone . 415.893.8008 fax
NASDAQ:SNIC paul_lefebvre@sonic.com email
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DAIKIN'S DVD AUTHORING BUSINESS JOINS FORCES WITH SONIC SOLUTIONS
COMBINATION CREATES PROFESSIONAL DVD POWERHOUSE
Marin County (February 28, 2001) - Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC) announced
today that it has reached an agreement with Daikin Industries, Ltd., of Japan
under which Sonic will combine Daikin's DVD authoring business with Sonic's
professional DVD operations. Under the terms of the agreement, Daikin will
maintain an equity interest in Sonic Solutions signifying the strategic
importance of the union. Sonic will acquire the Daikin products, including all
intellectual property rights, and carry on development, marketing and sales
activities on a worldwide basis. Further, Daikin will continue to be the
exclusive distributor and service provider of the Daikin-originated authoring
products in Japan.
"The addition of Daikin's technology will further strengthen our leadership
position," said Bob Doris, President of Sonic Solutions. "Daikin introduced
Scenarist, the first authoring application for professional DVD creation, in
1996 and that system is still a `gold standard' in the industry. Sonic has sold
the largest number of professional DVD production systems of any company in the
world. This deal truly combines the best with the best."
"Sonic has been very successful in providing professional users with DVD
production systems," said Mr. Kiyoshi Nakajima, General Manager of Daikin's
Comtec Computer Division in Tokyo, Japan. "We're delighted to join forces with
Sonic to continue to develop and enhance the strong tradition established by
Scenarist, ReelDVD and other Daikin DVD products."
"We are very pleased that Sonic and Daikin have combined forces to create a
professional DVD powerhouse," said Leon Silverman, Executive Vice President of
Laser Pacific Media Corporation, a leading digital media laboratory based in
Hollywood. "Our Digital Media Services Group specializes in the most demanding
and creative DVD projects, and we make heavy use of both the Sonic and Daikin
applications to provide the best possible product to our clients. We have had a
longstanding and fruitful relationship with Sonic, and combining these product
lines under one roof assures us of continued success in serving the Hollywood
community."
Key Executives to Join Sonic
As part of the combination, key members of Daikin U.S. Comtec Laboratories will
join Sonic Solutions.
Dr. Panos Nasiopoulos, most recently President of Daikin U.S. Comtec Labs, will
join Sonic as an Executive Vice President reporting to Bob Doris, Sonic's
President. Dr. Nasiopoulos is a pioneer in DVD and digital media and is
recognized as a leading authority on digital video compression and multimedia
technology. In addition to his role at Daikin, Dr. Nasiopoulos is currently
Executive Director of the Master of Software Systems Program at the
Daikin's DVD Authoring Business Joins Forces with Sonic Solutions page 2
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University of British Columbia, where he is also an Adjunct Professor in the
department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Jim Taylor, who has been Chief Technology Officer at Daikin's U.S. Comtec Labs,
will also join Sonic as Chief of DVD Technology, also reporting to Bob Doris,
Sonic's President. Mr. Taylor is a very well known figure in the DVD community
and was named by DVD Report as one of the world's 21 most influential DVD
executives. His book, DVD Demystified, now in its second edition, has become
required reading for all DVD professionals. Before joining Daikin last year, Mr.
Taylor held a number of positions in the DVD and multimedia industries. Most
recently, he was the DVD Evangelist for Microsoft Corporation where he steered
Microsoft's strategy for incorporating support for DVD into the Windows (TM)
operating system.
About Daikin Industries, Ltd.
Based in Japan, Daikin Industries, Ltd., provides digital media hardware and
software solutions including 3D graphic workstations, 3D animation, non-linear
video editing, virtual set and DVD authoring software for professional
multimedia content developers. Daikin's Scenarist, the world's first DVD
authoring and premastering software, was released to the worldwide market in
1996. Daikin also released ReelDVD for the prosumer market in 2000. Daikin DVD
products are used in over 3,000 facilities worldwide, ranging from Hollywood
post-production facilities to DVD replication houses. The company's diverse
operations also include being a top-ranking manufacturer of commercial and
industrial air conditioning systems, fluorochemicals, oil hydraulic and
lubrication equipment, defense products, vacuums, and cryogenics.
About Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC)
Based in Marin County, California, Sonic (http://www.sonic.com) is the leading
manufacturer of solutions for DVD publishing. Sonic DVDit!(TM)
(http://www.dvdit.com) is the first application for DVD authoring targeted at
videographers and corporate video producers, and is bundled with major video
editing, capture, encoding and media production systems. Sonic MyDVD(TM)
(http://www.mydvd.sonic.com) is the first DVD authoring application for
consumers, making it easy to capture "your life on DVD." Sonic DVD Creator(R)
and Sonic DVD Fusion(R) are the most widely-used systems for professional DVD
publishing, and are installed worldwide at major studios, post production
facilities and in corporate marketing departments. SonicStudio(TM) HD is the
leading digital workstation for preparing audio for release on CD and is the
first for creating content for the new DVD-Audio format. Sonic is also a full
voting member of the DVD Forum, the standards-setting body for the DVD format.
(C) 2001 Sonic Solutions. Sonic, Sonic Solutions, the Sonic logo, DVD Creator,
DVD Fusion, DVDit!, and SonicStudio HD are trademarks of Sonic Solutions. All
other company or product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
Specifications, pricing and delivery schedules are subject to change without
notice.