Gemplus Expands China Operations With the New Plant in Tianjin

Tianjin set to become one of Gemplus' major manufacturing facilities with over 400 million smart cards already produced.

Luxembourg & China, November 17, 2004 - Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP), the world's leading provider of smart card solutions, today announces the opening of Gemplus' new plant in Tianjin, which will employ the advanced Gemplus Production System to provide smart card solutions to both the domestic and global market. With expanded facilities, Gemplus is better able to stay ahead of market demand, helping telecom operators in China to develop greater value-added services for their customers. 

Tianjin Gemplus, a joint venture between Gemplus and Tian Jin Zhong Tian Telecommunication Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Putian Group, one of China's leading providers of telecom smart cards, made the decision to build the new plant based on market trends and the success of its current operations. The new plant, which covers an area of approximately 50,000 m2, will primarily produce smart cards for GSM & CDMA cell phones, fixed phones, PHS phones and, in the near future, high-end 3G cell phones. With the addition of its new plant, Tianjin Gemplus has established a supply chain that includes module production, card printing, packaging, encrypting and other key processes of smart card manufacturing. As of October 2004, Tianjin Gemplus has already produced over 400 million smart cards.

To celebrate the opening of Tianjin Gemplus' new plant, Mr. Alex Mandl, CEO of Gemplus, together with Gemplus senior executives and officials of the Tianjin Government, traveled to Tianjin to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Mr. Wu Yu Shu, President of Tianjin Zhong Tian Telecommunication, China Putian Group, said: "We are very pleased that Gemplus considers the China market a top priority and we believe that Gemplus will achieve long-term success here. Our competitive advantages in information systems and terminals, and other key information technologies, combined with Gemplus' vast experience in the smart card industry, will greatly benefit our customers as market competition intensifies." 

Mr. Alex Mandl, CEO of Gemplus, said: "Our new Tianjin plant is critical to continued success in Asia Pacific and globally. The new and expanded capabilities it provides means that we can better serve our customers in China and around the world. Gemplus will closely cooperate with our Chinese partners and share with Chinese customers the benefits of Gemplus solutions."

About China PUTIAN
CHINA PUTIAN CORPORATION (hereinafter called "CHINA PUTIAN") is an IT products and service provider in telecommunication industry. The company was founded in 1980, originally called China Posts and Telecommunications Industry Corporation. It is a state key enterprise directly under the leadership of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC).

CHINA PUTIAN's business scope covers both fixed and mobile communications. Its available communication equipments and terminal products include: mobile communication network equipments and handsets, optical transmission equipments and communication cables, PDF and connectors, power supplies, microwave communication equipments, telecommunication network Operation Support Systems (OSS), SPC switch, videophones and IC card payphones, PHS handsets, logistics information system and equipments for industries, ITS series products, office information equipments and etc, as well as project contracting home and abroad, international cooperation, technology transfer, products import and export and etc.

www.china-putian.com

About Tianjin Zhong Tian Telecommunication
Tianjin Zhong Tian Telecommunication Co., Ltd. is a joint venture between Tianjin Telephone Equipment Factory and Shanghai Posts & Telecommunications Equipment Co., Ltd.

Tianjin Zhong Tian Telecommunication Co., Ltd. has world-class advanced professional equipment and many senior technicians. In its development, the company has established joint venture programs and the partnerships with companies from Japan, France, Italy, the USA and South Korea, etc. The company imported advanced technologies and equipment from abroad and absorbed advanced technologies and management experience of foreign countries. So the company has grown steadily for consecutive years and become a large-scale backbone enterprise that combined the R&D, production and sales of telecommunication terminals in China and a key subsidiary of China Putian Group.

www.zttx.com

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: Gartner-Dataquest (2004), Frost & Sullivan, Datamonitor.). It has sold over 4 billion smart cards. With security at its core, and 2400 patents produced by its innovative R&D team, Gemplus delivers a wide range of portable, personalized solutions in areas including Identity, Mobile Telecommunications, Public Telephony, Banking, Retail, Transport, Healthcare, WLAN, Pay-TV, e-government, and access control.

Gemplus' revenue in 2003 was 749 million Euros.

www.gemplus.com

For more information, contact:

Rebecca Lee
Gemplus China PR Manager
Tel: +86 (10) 5816 1990
rebecca.lee@gemplus.com

Wang Xiao Qing
Edelman - China
Tel: +86 (10) 8519 1588#279
xiaoqing.wang@edelman.com

©2004 Gemplus. All rights reserved. Gemplus and the Gemplus logo are trademarks and service marks of Gemplus S.A. 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.

Some of the statements contained in this release constitute forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activities, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Actual events or results may differ materially. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated by the forward-looking statements contained in this release include, but are not limited to: trends in wireless communication and mobile commerce markets; our ability to develop new technology, and the effects of competing technologies developed and expected intense competition generally in our main markets; profitability of our expansion strategy; challenges to or loss of our intellectual property rights; our ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships in our major businesses; our ability to develop and take advantage of new software and services; and the effect of future acquisitions and investments on our share price. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as of this release. We are under no duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after this date to conform such statements to actual results or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated results.