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OULU, Finland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 20, 2001-- Hantro Products Ltd. (Hantro), a leading provider of mobile multimedia solutions announced today that it will sign a licensing agreement with SANYO. Under the licensing agreement SANYO will be able to use Hantro's MPEG4 video codec in its semiconductor products. The first product where SANYO will provide chips including Hantro's video engine is a new PDA by an industry leading Japanese electronics manufacturer.

``In this early phase of mobile video, the PDA market is very interesting as there are good displays and other facilities available for video applications,'' says Mr. Eero Kaikkonen, CEO and President of Hantro. ``We see PDA's as a natural step in the evolution of video applications. Wireless video will first be implemented in PDA's before it can be utilized by mid-range mobile phones. We value the partnership and are very proud that SANYO will be a licensee for our technology. This revenue generating deal with up-front license fee and royalties justifies that we are on the right track in our business model development.''

``SANYO and our customers have lofty demands for high resolution (QVGA) and picture quality, but Hantro's technology and prototypes convinced us that those demands are accessible,'' says Mr. Toru Watanabe of SANYO Semiconductor Company. ``Hantro's roadmap gives us a good position in offering not only a one time solution to our customers, but a solution with the aspect to the future of wireless video also. The availability of the MPEG4 codec as an IP was also one of the main points when selecting Hantro's solution, because we found HW IP as the only viable solution for us. Separate chips are not cost effective and on the other hand we found SW based solutions not to be capable for this task.'' Hantro's MPEG-4 codec is a hardware-based solution including necessary software. The codec enables the transfer of high-class video images between mobile devices by providing high-quality, simultaneous video encoding and decoding at speeds up to 30 frames per second and up to CIF resolution. Hantro's codec is an optimal solution for battery operated devices, due to its sophisticated power control system. The codec is optimized for low power usage and low processor load.

About Hantro

Hantro Products Ltd. specializes in the latest video coding technologies and wireless communication. The company's main product is an MPEG4 codec, a two-way wireless image transfer for wireless appliances. Hantro's MPEG-4 codec is a System-on-Chip solution and it is specifically designed for wireless handsets with low power consumption and low processor loading.

Hantro was founded in Oulu, Finland in 1992. Since the beginning, the company has concentrated on the design services for wireless technology. In 1994, Hantro launched its first IP Library that was ASIC- based Forward Error Correction library for wireless communication. For more information on Hantro and its products, please visit www.hantro.com.

About SANYO Semiconductor Company

SANYO Semiconductor Company is one of the five principal companies that make up SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. The company offers semiconductor devices, flat panel displays and system solutions for leading applications in the electronics industry such as mobile communication equipment, PC/PC related products and analog/digital AV equipment. The company has 3 wafer fabs and 5 assembly fabs in Japan with an additional 6 assembly fabs in the Asia-Pacific region. Sales offices of the company are located in North America, Europe, Asia and Japan. In the fiscal year 2000 (ending March 2001), the company achieved $3.6bn turnover with approximately 15,000 employees, including its subsidiaries.

Further information is available at http://www.semic.sanyo.co.jp/index_e.htm

     Hantro Products Ltd.
     Eero Kaikkonen, +358 8 815 6300
     eero.kaikkonen@hantro.com