LADYDRAGON.COM - IBM Launches New Logo for Consumer Products; Nintendo to Use With NINTENDO GAMECUBE; Underscores Growing Emphasis On OEM Technology Business

Thursday August 23, 2001

IBM Launches New Logo for Consumer Products; Nintendo to Use With NINTENDO GAMECUBE; Underscores Growing Emphasis On OEM Technology Business

IBM said today it will complement its global brand by introducing a new logo for the makers of a variety of consumer electronics devices that use IBM technology.
Nintendo's soon-to-be-released NINTENDO GAMECUBE(TM) will be the first to carry the logo on the external packaging. The engine inside the product is a PowerPC processor custom-designed and manufactured by IBM.

"By carrying this new mark, the public clearly sees we are including the latest in IBM technology in our legendary product --technology that enhances the overall gaming experience," said Genyo Takeda, General Manager of Integrated Research & Development Division of Nintendo Co., Ltd. of Japan.

The unique identifier will soon start appearing on products such as personal digital assistants, cellular phones, set-top boxes, digital cameras, game systems and a host of other electronic devices made by companies that purchase technology or intellectual property from IBM, a way for those companies to show IBM innovation is adding value to their product.

"IBM's growing business of selling and supplying technology to makers of consumer devices in the post-PC era has come of age," said Lee Green, IBM's corporate director of identity and design. "And Nintendo, a valued partner of ours for many years, will be the first company to use this logo on a consumer product packaging."

IBM launched its OEM business in earnest in 1993. Since then the company's OEM sales have grown from virtually zero to more than $10 billion last year. The OEM effort, seen within the corporation as an important engine for revenue growth, is driven in part by IBM's extensive patent portfolio. The company has been granted more patents than any other company for eight years in a row and through 2001 has announced further breakthroughs in chip technology, hard disk drives, displays and other components.

In addition to this branding effort, the company also is expanding its distribution and developer support programs for its OEM products and it plans to offer the new OEM logo to other companies.