News Release：RWPPI to Open Office in the USA39 Companies Present at Its 4th Meeting

  To facilitate smooth market introduction and expansion of DVD-R/RW products in North America, the RW Products Promotion Initiative (RWPPI) -- based at Pioneer Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, headed by Masao Sugimoto, Executive Corporate Engineering Advisor at Pioneer -- will open an office in the United States next month, a first step in expanding its activities globally.
  The main roles of the US office will be to (1) facilitate the exchange of information among RWPPI members in North America, (2) manage joint promotional campaigns, and (3) serve as a source of information for the mass media.
  The new office will be located at Pioneer North America, Inc. in Long Beach, California.
  On December 12, the RWPPI held its 4th meeting at Pioneer Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. In seven short months since its launch last May, the RWPPI's membership has grown from 12 to 39 companies.

  The RWPPI participating companies are as follows (in alphabetical order):

Aiwa Co.,Ltd., Almedio Inc., Advanced Media Corporation, Asahi Kasei Microsystems Co., Ltd., CMC Magnetic Corporation, Conexant Systems Japan Co., Ltd., Cyberlink Inc., Eastman Kodak Company, Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd., Fujifilm Microdevices Co., Ltd., Funai Electric Co., Ltd., Hitachi Maxell, Ltd., Intervideo Japan Inc., Kenwood Corporation, LG Electronics Inc., MediaTek Inc., Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Mitsui Chemicals Inc., Nikon Corporation, Oak Technology, K.K., Orion Electric Co., Ltd., Onkyo Corporation, Optodisc Technology Corporation, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer Video Corporation, Ritek Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Shinano Kenshi Co.,Ltd., Sonic Solutions, Sony Corporation, Spruce Technologies Inc., Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd., TDK Corporation, Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.(JVC Media Co), Yamaha Corporation, Zoran Corporation