InFocus and TCL Announce 50-50 Joint Venture

InFocus and TCL Announce 50-50 Joint Venture

December 16th,2004

Wilsonville, Ore., December 13, 2004 - InFocus(Nasdaq: INFS), the worldwide leader in digital projection technology and services, and TCL Corporation ), the leading multimedia consumer electronic products company in China, today announced the signing of an agreement to form a 50-50 owned joint venture named South Mountain Technologies (SMT) for the development, manufacturing and distribution of front and rear-projection engines and projectors.

The new company will integrate the low-cost, high-quality manufacturing capabilities of TCL with the innovative leadership of InFocus in digital projection product design. SMT will leverage InFocusextensive experience with imaging devices utilizing multiple technologies for front projection and rear projection engines to provide the best price performance projection and display solutions to customers around the world.

Established as an affiliate Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) company, SMT will manufacture and sell projection solutions to InFocus and TCL and other brand operators in both China and the broader global markets.

The 50 - 50 joint venture will consist of an offshore parent holding company with three wholly owned subsidiaries; a manufacturing research and development subsidiary in Shenzhen China, and research and development centers in the U.S. and Norway.

"By forming a joint venture between two industry leaders such as InFocus and TCL, we are creating a design and production powerhouse capable of manufacturing the world most innovative, lowest cost projection products for consumption domestically in China and around the world, while significantly reducing our operating costs," said Kyle Ranson, President and CEO of InFocus Corporation.

"SMT represents the next phase in the evolution of our offshore manufacturing strategy as we take advantage of TCL economies of scale and low-cost manufacturing expertise as the world largest TV manufacturer. In addition, it affords us the opportunity to license our technology to a broader market space through an affiliated OEM manufacturer.

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Commenting on the partnership, Robert Hu, President of TCL Components Strategic Business Unit and Senior Vice President of TCL Corporation said, e are very excited about our strategic alliance with InFocus. The joint venture is a key element of a major initiative in our global business expansion into digital video products, by providing us leading edge optical engine and projection designs from InFocus for our Thomson, RCA and TCL brands."

South Mountain Technologies (SMT), headquartered in Shenzhen, China, will develop products with engineering teams seeded from InFocus in the United States and Norway, and TCL in China. SMT will leverage the local expertise of each engineering site to develop low-cost, high-quality products for global OEM customers. As part of the venture, David Glaess, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Research and Development at InFocus, will become the Chief Executive Officer of SMT.

"This exciting opportunity will unite engineering and manufacturing talent in the development of best-in-class products that will open up the global projection market to an expanded set of first time customers," said David Glaess, future CEO of SMT. "I look forward to the opportunity of leading the strategy to leverage the unique strengths of TCL and InFocus, and bring successful profitable growth to SMT, InFocus and TCL."