BOULDER, CO - JULY 26, 2006 - IBM today announced that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM), the world's largest technology distributor, to distribute IBM's industrial printers worldwide. This global distribution agreement will be facilitated through Ingram Micro's Nimax Division, a leading distributor of automatic identification/data capture (AIDC), point-of-sale (POS) and mobile computing products. Nimax will add IBM's rugged and dependable industrial printer line to their portfolio, including the Infoprint 6700 Thermal/RFID printers and the Infoprint 6500 and Infoprint 4247 impact printers. "Nimax has a wealth of expertise in the supply chain industry," said Doug Oathout, vice president, IBM Printing Systems. "They understand the specific applications that drive the installation of industrial printers and can provide innovative solutions to clients. We expect this new relationship will provide a compelling value proposition to companies around the world." "We look forward to this new relationship with IBM," said John Soumbasakis, vice president and general manager, Nimax. "We continue to grow our linecard and provide our customers with access to the most comprehensive solutions in the industry. We recognize IBM's global reach, 40 years of experience in the print industry, and top-notch products and are excited to be able to provide our customers with a more wide-ranging portfolio of products from which to choose." IBM's Versatile Industrial Printers Offer Durability and Reliability IBM's industrial printers are designed to stand up to harsh environments and are a cost-effective alternative to laser models. The IBM Infoprint 6700 is a thermal printer that provides flexible media handling, support for bar codes and powerful remote management capabilities. An RFID option enables the encoding of RFID tags as well as the printing of bar codes on the same label with data validation. The IBM Infoprint 6500 is a line matrix printer designed to deliver reliable high-performance printing of text, bar codes, graphics, and overlays, as well as support for a wide range of media types. The IBM Infoprint 4247 is a high output impact printer designed for use in demanding print environments such as manufacturing, transportation and distribution. It supports mission-critical environments with high speed and high functionality. For more information about IBM's print solutions visit www.ibm.com/printers