21 March 2006 - Today, ABIT Computer Corporation and Universal Scientific Industrial Co. Ltd. (USI) completed the transfer of the ABIT motherboard brand and related intangible assets to a new joint venture company established by both ABIT and USI. The new company, registered as Universal ABIT Co., Ltd., will tender a consideration consisting of NT$350 million in cash, 20 million units of special shares, and 5 million units of warrants to purchase the above mentioned intangible assets of ABIT, including patents, trademarks, et-cetera. With the new partnership, ABIT receives a strong financial backing from which to continue its core business, and also eliminates the financial straits which began late Q4 2004.
USI President C. Y. WEI stated that with the new partnership, the ABIT brand would receive USI’s full resource backing and support. In addition, USI will not only assist ABIT with world-class manufacturing, but will also help accelerate ABIT’s product diversification, improving ABIT’s competitiveness in the marketplace. At the same time, channel and end-customers can also benefit greatly with ABIT being able to leverage USI’s global service network, greatly improving overall customer satisfaction. ABIT will take this opportunity to transform into a Taiwan-based, R&D and marketing focused global branding company, expanding through tech-related products and channel marketing. Regarding rumors about the disappearance of the ABIT brand and the discontinuation of ABIT’s after-sales service, Wang stated that ABIT will not only improve on its already outstanding product quality and customer service, but will also have a lot of space for development into new markets.
Currently, the ABIT brand offers mid- to high-end motherboards, products that target the hot overclocking, PC gaming, and PC Desktop enthusiast segments. Its products include the Fatal1ty Gaming Motherboard Series endorsed by five-time World Champion gamer Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel, and the MAX series, a high-end overclocking motherboard lineup which features ABIT’s patented Silent OTES™ heatpipe cooling technology. At this year’s CeBIT fair in Hannover, Germany, ABIT introduced the world’s first DDD (digital input, processing, and output) speaker system – the iDome D500 – a 2.1 channel personal digital theater system aimed at PC users. With optical inputs and fully-digital technology, ABIT once again displays outstanding innovation and development capabilities.
If consumers aren’t familiar with USI, it is because USI is a design, manufacturing and service (DMS) firm that focuses on enterprises. USI’s clientele include the world’s largest personal computer, LCD mainboard, and storage solution brands. USI is a part of the ASE Group, which is the world's largest provider of independent semiconductor manufacturing services in assembly and testing. USI has an original market capitalization of NT$7.6B, with 2005 revenues topping NT$52.2B, and over 10,000 employees worldwide. USI’s product offerings include:
* Computing: Desktops, laptops, servers, and storage-related products
* Communications: Wi-fi, Bluetooth, Wi-fi ADSL, and UWB
* Consumer: Multimedia centers, digital media converters, Internet radio, and home network storage devices
* Car Electronics: Auto parts, Telematics, EPS, Flat Panel Device Control Boards, SHD, Point-of-Sale devices
With this transaction and the added support of USI, ABIT has successfully transformed from a manufacturing company into a global product development and brand marketing organization.
