 Gemplus
Strengthens its Commitment to the Conventional Card Arm of its North American
Operations
International smart card leader appoints Timothy Wright as
Director of North America Conventional Card Sales
Luxembourg and Horsham, Pennsylvania - September 23, 2003 - Gemplus
International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP), the world's
leading provider of smart card solutions, today reaffirms its commitment to the
North American conventional card market and appoints Timothy Wright as Director
of North American Conventional Card Sales.
Gemplus is ramping-up its North American conventional card business to take a
life of its own, with local management, dedicated sales and technical teams, and
a local manufacturing facility with high-volume production capacity. Globally
recognized for its leadership in smart cards, Gemplus expects this decision to
positively impact both its conventional and smart card customers in North
America by enhancing its ability to provide high-quality innovative solutions at
a low cost. To meet this need, Gemplus recently appointed Timothy Wright as
Director of North America Conventional Card Sales. In this capacity, Wright will
oversee Gemplus' conventional card sales and customer service activities and
operations based in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania.
Wright previously served as Vice President of Sales for De La Rue Brand in
the United States from 2000 to 2002 and Sales and Marketing Manager of Secure
Card Products for Dainippon Ink & Chemicals Inc. in New Jersey from 1996 to
2000. Prior to joining Dainippon Ink & Chemicals Inc., Wright spent nine
years (1985 - 1992, 1994 - 1996) in Japan where he held numerous international
marketing management positions in Tokyo and became the first foreign student to
earn a Masters degree in Law at Niigata University. Wright also received a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Timothy Wright is a current member of the International Card Manufacturers
Association (ICMA) Board of Directors and is actively involved in a number of
card industry standards groups.
Gemplus carries over 25 years of conventional card production expertise with
the acquisition of DataCard's conventional card manufacturing assets in 1995.
Its Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania production facility is ISO 9002 and ISO 1400
certified, making it safe, healthy, and good for the environment. Gemplus also
offers customers an in-house service bureau for embossing, encoding, thermal
graphics, ink-jet printing, PIN generation, bar codes, inserting, value-added
packaging, and mailing.
Gemplus is widely recognized for its high-quality production and printing and
on-time delivery of its conventional card products, which include PVC
(traditional plastic card body), GemLucence (translucent PVC card body), and
HoloGem (PVC card body covered with foil to produce a holographic or mirror
effect).
About Gemplus
Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP) is
the world's leading player in the smart card industry in both revenue and total
shipments (source 2002: Gartner-Dataquest, Frost & Sullivan, Datamonitor.)
It has the largest R&D team, unrivalled experience, and an outstanding track
record of technological innovation.
Gemplus helps its clients offer an exceptional range of portable,
personalized solutions that bring security and convenience to people's lives.
These include Mobile Telecommunications, Public Telephony, Banking, Retail,
Transport, Identity, WLAN, Pay-TV, e-government, access control, and a wealth of
other applications.
Gemplus' revenue in 2002 was 787 million Euros.
www.gemplus.com
For further information, contact:
Kerry Butler
Gemplus
Tel : +1 215 390 2840
Email : kerry.butler@gemplus.com
Michelle Cox
Edelman Public Relations
Tel : +1 323 202 1035
Email : michelle.cox@edelman.com
©2003 Gemplus. All rights reserved. Gemplus and the Gemplus logo are trademarks and
service marks of Gemplus and are registered in certain countries. All other trademarks
and service marks, whether registered or not in specific countries, are the property
of their respective owners.
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