CeBIT America 2003 MOUNT LAUREL, N.J.--Dec. 8, 2003-- Oki Data Americas, Inc., a leading manufacturer of color and monochrome printers, serial impact dot matrix printers, multifunction products and facsimiles is solidifying its rapidly growing reputation as a market leader in color printers. Evidence of this includes the recently published third quarter 2003 U.S. report from industry analysts International Data Corporation (IDC), which shows that Oki Data now has the third largest market share in the U.S. color page printer market. Over the last year, the company has strengthened its position in the color printer marketplace, announced national consumer distribution and has seen many of its breakthrough color printer products and services garner prestigious accolades. These recent positive developments confirm Oki Data's status as one of the top color printer manufacturers and a growing force in the overall color market. "The outlook is bright for Oki Data," said Stew Krentzman, President and CEO, Oki Data Americas. "Our company is in the midst of an outstanding year and we are looking forward to the future. Oki Data's unmatched technology and dedication to delivering reliable printing solutions has helped us substantially grow our share of the color printer market. Our industry gold standard Single Pass Color technology allows our customers to print a variety of solutions from colorful 4' long banners to customized POP signage to dynamic day-to-day business documents just to name a few." Oki Data Increases Market Share Oki Data took a quantum leap in U.S. color page printer market share over the last year. The results of the recently published Third Quarter 2003 U.S. report from IDC indicate that Oki Data has made sizeable gains in the U.S. color page printer market. Signs of growth over the last quarter include: -- Oki Data now has the third largest share in U.S. unit shipments of the color page printer market in the third quarter of 2003. The company was in fifth position during the second quarter of 2003. -- Oki Data now has a 14% share of the U.S. color page printer market vs. a 5% share during the second quarter of 2003. "IDC's findings are one of the clearest signs yet that Oki Data is a leading player in the color printer market," said Krentzman. "It is clear that business professionals understand that they can reduce total cost of ownership, as well as increase printing productivity and quality by utilizing the OKI digital color printers." New Distribution, New Awards It has been an eventful year for Oki Data Americas, as the company's determined efforts to become a color printer leader have resulted in the achievement of key milestones such as: -- Oki Data announced national consumer distribution of its fast, affordable C5100n color printer, as the company inked deals with Comp USA, Office Depot and MicroCenter to carry the $799, 12 ppm color printer. -- Oki Data recently earned several prestigious awards for their line of color printers from testing labs and computer publications. -- The company was named the winner of the Service 800 Award for exceeding customer service standards and achieving high satisfaction and loyalty ratings with its customers from SERVICE 800, a customer satisfaction and loyalty monitoring and evaluation firm. -- The company also earned the prestigious ISO 9001:2000 certification from the worldwide International Organization for Standardization underscoring Oki Data's company-wide commitment to product quality and customer service. OKI Award Winning Color Printers With honors ranging from PC World's 2003 "World Class Award" to positive reviews from various independent testing facilities such as Buyers Laboratory Incorporated (BLI) and BERTL Labs and media outlets over the last year, Oki Data is consistently recognized as a strong player in the competitive color printer market with its reliable printer lines. OKI's C7300n Digital Color Printer, launched in October 2002, has been particularly singled out with its consecutive number one positions on the renowned PC World Top 10 list for color laser printers (March and August 2003). The C7300n was also the winner of PC World's prestigious 2003 "World Class Award" for color laser printers, which honors products that set the standard for excellence in the high-tech industry. The World Class Awards were announced in the July 2003 issue of PC World and presented at a special event at the June CeBIT show in New York City. In addition, PC World also ranked two OKI products in its recent November monochrome laser printer Top Ten round-up, as the OKI B4300 mono printer placed fifth in the "small office laser" category and the OKI B8300n placed fourth in the "corporate office" category. Independent testing facilities have also been lauding Oki Data's offerings. Buyer's Laboratory Incorporated (BLI) named the C9500dxn "Color Printer Line of the Year" and gave the C9500dxn an overall "highly recommended" rating. BLI said the C9500dxn demonstrated an "outstanding overall performance" and provided perfect reliability during its three-month test period. BLI also gave the C7300n a "highly recommended" rating, noting its flawless reliability, and gave a "recommended" rating to the new C5300n, calling it impressive. Independent testing facility BERTL gave the entire OKI color printer line its "Best Color Printer Range of the Year" award, which honors the product line that delivers outstanding flexibility and functionality suitable for a wide range of businesses.