Sept. 30, 2002

Representatives of Thomson, the fourth largest cable modem manufacturer in the U.S. negotiated an order for 500,000 cable modems per year to Taiwan companies.
Reportedly, they contacted Turbocomm Inc., Askey Computer Co., Ambit Microsystems Corp., and Asustek Computer Inc. To negotiate this OEM production.
Thomson is seeking one sole OEM partner in Taiwan. The result of the negotiations have not been announced yet.

Based on Dataquest statistics, the world absorbed 9.775 million cable modems in 2001, and the number is expected to rise to 11.86 million in 2002. Taiwan OEM makers delivered 5.33 million units or a 54.7% share of the world market.

Amierca now ranks as the world`s biggest cable modem outlet. The country has some 80 million cable TV subscribers but uses only 8.77 million calbe modems for broadband online functions. However, it is expected that the number of broadband unsers will hit 35.1 million in the U.S. by 2006, translating into a sales potential if 20 million units.