June 30, 2005
Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd Concludes Agreement with Major Distributor
In August 2005, Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. (“MEW”) will establish a new “Research and Marketing Group” from within the Electronic Material Division (EMD) of Panasonic Electric Works Corporation of America (“PEWA”). The PEWA Corporation (formally Aromat Corporation), currently functions as the U.S. sales arm of MEW, headquartered in Japan. The new group, reorganized from within the Electronic Materials Division (EMD) will focus on research and marketing for multi-layer printed circuit board materials (“MLPCB Materials”) in the U.S. The “Electronic Materials Research and Marketing Group” (“R&M”) will be located in the North Western Office of “PEWA” located in San Jose, California.
R&M’s stated goal is to search for new needs and applications in such areas as high-speed network equipment, which utilizes the most advanced technologies, materials for semiconductor packaging, and next generation communication technologies. Its activity will also include collecting information regarding advanced technology trends of MLPCB Materials used in the aforementioned areas and qualification of products using such technologies. In addition, MEW plans to expand R&M activity into research and planning of new businesses, including semiconductor-encapsulation materials, flexible CCL etc., during the next few years.
To ensure more efficient and effective import sales from Japan and other Asian facilities, MEW has granted a national sales rights of MLPCB Materials in the North America to Matrix Group (headquarter: Toronto, Canada). The move to Matrix Group will replace MEW’s existing sales channel. PEWA and Matrix Group have enjoyed a business relationship for quite some time, and MEW has executed a national Distributor agreement with Matrix Group at its headquarters on June 29th.
MEW will work closely with Matrix Group to expand North America sales of its major product line, high performance MLPCB Materials. These will include MEGTRON series and HIPER series for the telecommunication infrastructure. Through its newly enhanced relationship with Matrix Group, MEW intends to increase its annual North America sales from 200 million Yen to 1 billion Yen during the next 3 years.
MEW will cease its U.S. production of MLPCB Materials by the end of June 2005 and will close its manufacturing subsidiary (located in Oregon) by March 2006 (the end of FY2005). Along with this ceasing of operations, MEW has been working to downsize its marketing organization within PEWA, which has responsibility for the sales and marketing activity of MLPCB Materials in the U.S. Once these changes take effect, MEW will thereafter conduct the sale of MLPCB Materials from Japan and Taiwan and shift its strategic focus in the U.S. to gaining insights for new and enhanced technologies, in addition to a continued marketing effort. MEW also expects to accelerate its strategic shift even more in the near future.
General Information of R&M
Location: San Jose, California, U.S.A.
Number of employees: Starting with a few people. Plan to increase to more than 10 people, who are going to be in charge of qualification of semiconductor-encapsulation materials and search for new business opportunity.
Head of the Group: Shingo Yoshioka, General Manager, Panasonic Electric Works Corporation of America (Former Aromat Corporation)
Areas of Operations a) Marketing activities for U.S. OEM manufacturers and PCB manufacturers b) Research activity for next generation products
Establishment: August 1st, 2005 (Until the end of year 2005, it will operate in our manufacturing subsidiary in Oregon)
General Information of Matrix Group
Head office (Location) 1124 Midway Blvd. Mississauga,
Ontario Canada L5T 2C1
www.matrixelectronics.com
Established in 1977 in Toronto, Canada
Capital Capital, Net Worth, USD 8.0M
President Matrix Electronics Limited, Canada: Edward Healy
Matrix USA Inc., USA: Kieran Healy
Employees
Matrix Electronics Limited, Canada, 32 Employees
Matrix Electronics Limited, USA, 11 Employees
Products and Service – Products and technical services used in the manufacture of Printed Circuit Boards, including multilayer material, double side PCB materials, copper foil, dry film, solder resist ink, carbide drills, chemicals; developers, defoamers, etchant, strippers, cleaners, etc.
Sales Sales 2004 = USD 17 M
Sales Location – Canada: Toronto U.S.A.: Bristol, CT, Santa Ana, CA, Chicago, IL, North Carolina, Minnesota
