Press Release
- 2002
ATI drives high-end features into mainstream faster than ever before with blistering new chips
Second time in less than three months award-winning ATI launches revolutionary new products:
Radeon® 9500 PRO, Radeon® 9500 and Radeon® 9700
Thursday, October 24, 2002
MARKHAM, Ontario - ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX:ATY,
NASDAQ:ATYT) today announced the launch of the Radeon®
9500 PRO, the world's first DirectX® 9.0 visual processing
unit (GPU) for the performance mainstream market. In addition,
ATI launched the Radeon® 9500 and Radeon® 9700 GPUs
- all three products are derivatives of ATI's wildly successful
and highly acclaimed Radeon® 9700 PRO product, launched
less than three months ago. These latest products complete
ATI's family of GPUs, firmly establishing the company's lead
in every market segment from value to enthusiast.
"We have accomplished a tremendous feat - one never
seen before in the industry - by driving our high-end product
features into the mainstream market while maintaining the
lead in the enthusiast market," said David Orton, President
and Chief Operating Officer, ATI Technologies Inc. "We
are strongly positioned as 'the king of graphics.' Once again,
we are leading the industry by being the first to drive DirectX
9.0 support into the mainstream, and offering high-end features
to that market."
Microsoft's DirectX 9.0 is the platform for which many game
developers are creating their new titles, and ATI's Radeon
9500 PRO is the only product on the market that allows performance
mainstream users to access high-end DirectX 9.0 features -
giving them a high-end gaming experience at a more affordable
price-point. Driving DirectX 9.0 support into the performance
mainstream means a larger market will have the ability to
enable features programmed specifically for the DirectX 9.0
platform.
"We applaud ATI's continued support of Microsoft DirectX,"
said Dean Lester, General Manager of Graphics and Gaming Technologies,
Microsoft Corporation. "ATI's new Radeon 9500 PRO hardware
combined with the capabilities of the latest Microsoft DirectX
9.0 will provide gamers the most robust and immersive gaming
experience available to date."
ATI's Radeon 9500 PRO sets a new standard for the performance
mainstream with the introduction of DirectX 9.0 support, eight
rendering pipelines, 275/540 clock speed, AGP 4X/8X compatibility
and 128-bit memory architecture combined with 128MB fast DDR
memory. The Radeon 9500, available exclusively through add-in-board
partners, offers many of the same features with four rendering
pipelines and 64MB fast DDR memory.
The third new product, Radeon 9700, will also be available
through add-in-board partners. It features DirectX 9.0 support,
eight rendering pipelines, AGP 4X/8X compatibility, 256-bit
memory architecture, 128MB fast DDR memory, and clock speeds
of 275/540.
Game developers around the world are thrilled by the Radeon
9500 PRO and the incredible features it offers to the mainstream.
More importantly, users with a Radeon 9500 PRO, Radeon 9500
or Radeon 9700 card will benefit from the long-term use of
DirectX 9.0, as the greatly anticipated platform will remain
the most advanced on the market for a minimum of two years.
"This is awesome news, to see progress into the mainstream
so quickly," said John Talley, Director of Technology,
Ion Storm. "We're really excited to see next generation
DirectX 9.0 graphics hardware brought into the mainstream,
because it means that more people will be able to experience
the full visual impact of our games as we push the envelope
of current hardware capabilities."
"The Radeon 9500 series enables game developers to write
advanced procedural shaders that will be commonplace in games
in the future," said Ryan Prescott, Software Engineer,
Core Technology, NCSoft Austin. "The Radeon 9500 series
are serious gaming boards that give the best bang for buck
available today. A real contender!"
"The Radeon 9500 and Radeon 9700 are bringing ATI back
into the fore of the computer graphics industry," said
Duncan Hopkins, Lead PC Programmer, Core Design. "Their
power and features allow users to run present games to the
MAX. The next generation of games, like Core Design's Tomb
Raider: The Angel of Darkness, that use Microsoft's new DirectX
9.0 allow the Radeon 9700 to show its real abilities."
"ATI is firing on all cylinders, delivering high-end
features and architecture to the mainstream in record time,"
said Rick Bergman, Senior Vice President, Marketing and General
Manager, Desktop, ATI Technologies Inc. "With the Radeon
9500 PRO, we have taken the lead in the high-end mainstream
market. Our continued domination with the Radeon 9700 PRO
and now with these derivatives confirms that we are taking
over in all markets. The industry wanted something more powerful
than ever, and we delivered - the design wins we continue
to accumulate are strong proof of that."
- In keeping with its aggressive strategy to blanket the mainstream,
high end and value markets with industry-leading product,
ATI is partnering with add-in-board manufacturers on its second
simultaneous worldwide launch - featuring the new Radeon 9500
and / or the Radeon 9700.
Add-in-board manufacturers include:
- Connect 3D
- CP Technologies
- FIC
- Gigabyte
- Hercules
- Hightech
- Sapphire
- Wistron
- Yuan
"ATI's latest introductions target lower, more affordable
price points," said Dean McCarron, President, Mercury
Research. "The Radeon 9500 PRO has made the latest in
DirectX 9.0 technology accessible to the high-volume mainstream
of the graphics market. ATI is now supplying products for
every segment of the industry."
The Radeon 9500 PRO has a suggested retail price (SRP) of
$199, after manufacturer's rebate, and will begin shipping
within 30 days. Radeon 9500 has an SRP of $179 and Radeon
9700 has an SRP of $299 - both are shipping now to add-in-board
partners and should be available immediately. For more information
on these and other ATI products, please visit www.ati.com
or our partners' web sites.
Forward-looking Statements and Uncertainties
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking
statements." When used in this press release, words such
as "plans," "intends," "anticipates,"
"should," "estimates," "expects,"
"believes," "indicates," "suggests,"
and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current
expectations and entail various risks and uncertainties that
are outlined in this press release and in the Company's 2001
Annual Report and Annual Information Form. As a result of
these risks and uncertainties, the Company's operating results
and common share price may be subject to significant volatility,
particularly on a quarterly basis. For example, the markets
for the Company's products are characterized by changing market
conditions, frequent new product introductions, seasonal and
variable demand and rapid technology changes. Other factors
that could cause the Company's results to vary include, but
are not limited to, lack of anticipated growth in the demand
for PCs, gaming consoles and consumer electronic devices in
which the Company's products are incorporated, reductions
in the Company's average selling prices for its products due
to competitive pressures and other factors, the introduction
of new products by the Company's competitors which render
the Company's products non-competitive, delays encountered
by the Company in developing new products or enhancements,
including integrated graphics and core logic components, in
the time frame required by its customers, delays in manufacturing
or unfavourable manufacturing yields experienced by the Company's
independent foundries, unexpected variances in material costs,
including silicon wafer, memory and printed circuit boards,
and constraints on the supply of components utilized in the
Company's products and in the PC industry generally. These
risks and uncertainties could cause or contribute to actual
results that are materially different from those anticipated
or experienced in the past. Additional information concerning
factors that could cause the Company's financial results to
fluctuate is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian
and U.S. securities regulatory authorities. ATI disclaims
any obligation or intention to update or revise any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.
Copyright 2002 ATI Technologies Inc. All rights reserved.
ATI and ATI product and product feature names are trademarks
and/or registered trademarks of ATI Technologies Inc. All
other company and product names are trademarks and/or registered
trademarks of their respective owners. Features, pricing,
availability and specifications are subject to change without
notice.
About ATI Technologies
ATI Technologies Inc. is a world leader in the design and
manufacture of innovative 3D graphics and digital media silicon
solutions. An industry pioneer since 1985, ATI is the world's
foremost visual processor unit (GPU) provider and is dedicated
to deliver leading-edge performance solutions for the full
range of PC and Mac desktop and notebook platforms, workstation,
set-top and digital television, game console and handheld
markets. With 2001 revenues in excess of US $1 billion, ATI
has more than 1,900 employees in the Americas, Europe and
Asia. ATI common shares trade on NASDAQ (ATYT) and the Toronto
Stock Exchange (ATY).
Contact Information
For media or industry analyst support, visit our Web site
at http://www.ati.com .
Other ATI Contacts:
Tenille Cuthbertson, Counsellor, BenchMark Porter Novelli,
at (416) 422-7163 or tcuthbertson@bmporternovelli.com
For Information:
Patricia Mikula, Public Relations Manager, ATI Technologies
Inc., at (905) 882-2600, Ext. 8809 or pmikula@ati.com
For investor relations support, please contact:
Janet Craig, Director, Investor Relations, ATI Technologies
Inc., at (905) 882-2600, Ext. 2631 or jcraig@ati.com
