Gemplus gains market share in 2002 and confirms leadership position for fifth consecutive year

Analysts confirm Gemplus' leadership position during a pivotal year for smart card technology

Luxembourg, April 30, 2003 - Industry analysts have today confirmed that Gemplus (Euronext: Sicovam 5768 and NASDAQ:GEMP), the world's leading provider of smart card solutions, has continued to gain market share with an increase to 32% of the smart card market.

According to Gartner Dataquest's "Worldwide Chip Card Market Share, 2002: Card Vendors and Semiconductor Vendors" report, Gemplus led the chip card market in 2002 with 564 million smart cards shipped worldwide.

Commenting on the report, Clare Hirst, smart card analyst at GartnerDataquest, said: "Gemplus continues to lead the market in an industry that is still recovering from market depreciation in 2000. Despite the highly competitive environment, Gemplus has actually gained market share over the past year from 30.4% in 2001 to 32% in 2002."

Commenting on the award, Alex Mandl, CEO, Gemplus, said: "This recognition is a great achievement for Gemplus and a testament to our strategy of driving innovation across our business. In 2002, we passed the cap of our 3rd billionth smart card, which confirms Gemplus' leadership position of providing nearly a third of all smart cards worldwide. We remain the leading provider of smart card solutions in the telecoms sector and in banking and financial services, we have increased our market share to 22% despite delays with EMV migration. We anticipate a strong pipeline emerging in 2003 as banks move into the next phase of EMV implementation, along with new markets opening up around smart ID-based security solutions."

2002 was an important year for Gemplus in terms of technology developments. Gemplus launched ResIDent, its secure ID solution, and the Sultanate of Oman became the first country in the Middle East to commit to using the system for the digital identification of its people. Its ID solutions have also been adopted across the Atlantic by Canada Post in Canada and is providing authentication to enable secure B2B trading in Argentina.

In the banking sector, Gemplus launched EMV Prime, a suite of solutions targeted at banks embarking on EMV migration, and has upgraded it with a new "Card Issuance" component to further simplify EMV migration. Moreover, Gemplus is the first vendor in France and in Germany to be certified by local authorities to deliver domestic EMV products to financial institutions. New customers such as Postbank, Netherland's largest bank, have also joined Gemplus' global customer base.

Gemplus continues to lead the telecoms sector and in 2002, became one of the founding members of the WLAN Smart Card Consortium, launched to define specifications for worldwide access to wireless networks. Using a customer-centric approach, it managed a number of new contracts with key operators globally, including Oi in Brazil, 3, Orange UK, Mobistar in Belgium, Vodafone Ireland, MTS in Russia and West Virginia Wireless in North America. With the most secure Java Cards on the market (Certified Common Criteria EAL5+), Gemplus is able to demonstrate new levels of sophistication for SIM card applications, such as Digital Rights Management and Mobile Payment.

About Gemplus

Gemplus (Euronext Paris SA: GEPL.PA; Sicovam: 005768; NASDAQ: GEMP) is the world's number one provider of smart card solutions.

Gemplus helps its clients offer an exceptional range of portable, personalised solutions that bring security and convenience to people's lives. These include mobile data services, inter-operable banking, identity, WLAN, m-commerce and a wealth of other applications. Gemplus is the only completely dedicated, truly global player in the Smart Card industry, with the largest R&D team, unrivalled experience, and an outstanding track record of technological innovation.

In 2001, Gemplus was the worldwide smart card leader in both revenue and total smart card shipments (source: Gartner-Dataquest, Frost & Sullivan). Gemplus was also awarded Frost & Sullivan's 2002 Market Value Leadership Award for its exceptional performance.

Gemplus' revenue in 2002 was 787 million Euros. It employs 5700 people in 37 countries throughout the world.

www.gemplus.com

Contact:

Kerry Butler
Gemplus
Tel: 215 390 2840
Email: kerry.butler@gemplus.com

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