InFocus Enters Manufacturing Agreement With Leading Chinese Electronics Company

WILSONVILLE, Ore. -- June 29, 1999 -- InFocus(R), (NASDAQ: INFS) the global technology and marketshare leader in data/video projection systems, announced today an agreement with China's leading electronics company, Shanghai General Electronic (Group) Co., Ltd (SGEG), to manufacture InFocus' extremely popular personal projectors in China for distribution in the Chinese market. Under the terms of the agreement, SGEG will be the exclusive manufacturer of InFocus personal projectors sold in China. In addition, SGEG will market products based on the InFocus' personal projector platform under the Shanghai General name.

The agreement between the two companies combines both technical and design expertise and infrastructure capabilities in one of the biggest markets in Asia. "This strategic relationship with Shanghai General further demonstrates our commitment to global leadership in our industry," said John V. Harker, chairman, president and CEO of InFocus. "It also contributes to InFocus' objective to accelerate the growth of the data/video projector industry worldwide and further reinforces our strong commitment to the market in China."

One key element of InFocus' strategy for expansion of the data/video category is to make its technology available to as many end-user customers as possible. Personal projectors based on the InFocus technology platform are currently available under multiple brand names in addition to InFocus' own. Sharing projector expertise with a reliable and capable partner such as Shanghai General contributes to this overall global expansion strategy.

"This agreement is a milestone for China's projector manufacturing industry. It is the first time that China has received a license from an international company to manufacture DLP-based projectors in China. We see the sharing of projector manufacturing expertise with InFocus as a major strategic step for SGEG," said Mr. Xu Wei Hu, chairman and CEO, Shanghai General Electronics (Group) Co., Ltd. "It allows SGEG to combine our manufacturing expertise with InFocus' optical engine expertise to produce truly superior results."

InFocus has been serving the Chinese market for several years through a well-established network of local distributors. In the last two years, InFocus has become one of the leading brands of data/video projectors in China. "Strategically, China is one of the most important markets for InFocus," said Thomas Mills, Managing Director, InFocus Asia-Pacific. "InFocus' shipments to China grew by 273% in 1998, spearheaded primarily by the LP(TM)420 and LP(TM)425 personal projectors."

Though the market is still in its early stages, China presents enormous long-term growth opportunities for InFocus. Projection technology has been named as a new economic growth point for China. Experts forecast that the market will increase 30-40% annually over the next five years.

InFocus Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: INFS) is the worldwide leader in developing, manufacturing, and marketing award-winning data/video projection products and services. All projectors provided by InFocus are backed by a comprehensive two-year service warranty, an exclusive "24-hour seven days per week" customer support hotline 800/799-9911 and our Priority Care program. For the fiscal year ending December 31, 1998. InFocus revenues were $306.7M. The company's headquarters are located at 27700B SW Parkway Avenue, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-9215. For more information about InFocus call 800/294-6400 or 503/685-8888 or visit the InFocus Web site at http://www.infocus.com.

Shanghai General Electronics (Group) Co., Ltd. (SGEG) is the largest electronics company in China. Its registered capital is RMB2.09 billion and total profits registered in 1998 were RMB700 million with an export value of US$660 million. SGEG has in total 32 fully-fund enterprises, 40 joint-ventured enterprises and four overseas enterprises.

NOTE: This press release includes forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and several factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to anticipated revenues, gross margins, earnings, and availability of products manufactured on behalf of the Company, backlog and new product introductions. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those indicated in the forward-looking statements: 1) in regard to revenues, gross margins and earnings uncertainties associated with market acceptance of and demand for the Company's products, impact of competitive products and pricing and dependence on third party suppliers; 2) in regard to product availability and backlog, uncertainties associated with manufacturing capabilities and dependence on third party suppliers; and 3) in regard to new product introductions, uncertainties associated with the development of technology and the establishment of full manufacturing capabilities, dependence on third-party suppliers and intellectual property rights. Investors are directed to the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's 1998 Form 10-K, which are available from the Company without charge, for a more complete description of the risks and uncertainties relating to forward looking statements made by the Company as well as to other aspects of the Company's business.

InFocus Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: INFS) is the worldwide leader in developing, manufacturing and marketing multimedia projection products and services to present video, audio, graphics and data from personal computers and other electronic devices. The Company's headquarters are located at 27700B S.W. Parkway Avenue, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-9215. The InFocus Systems web site is located at http://www.infocus.com.

InFocus and In Focus Systems are registered trademarks and LP is a trademark of In Focus Systems, Inc.

###

CONTACT: 

For editorial information:

InFocus
Nelson Pratt, 503/685-8959
nelson.pratt@infocus.com

                    or

Golin Harris International
Albert Fong, 415/808-9800
afong@golinharris.com

                   or

For investor information:

InFocus
Jeff Bouchard, 503/685-8609
jeff.bouchard@infocus.com

Business Wire Story BW0029 is protected by copyright and other applicable laws, treaties and conventions. Information in the release is furnished by Business Wire's member, who is solely responsible for content, accuracy and originality. All reproduction, other than for an individual user's personal reference, is prohibited without prior written permission.