SAP and Infineon Introduce Scalable Solution to Ease Integration of RFID Hardware and Software - New Offering to Help Retail, Manufacturing, Aerospace and High-Tech Companies Reduce Costs and Risks Associated with Deploying Heterogeneous RFID Components

Oct 5, 2004 | Market News

Joint News Release of Infineon Technologies and SAP

San Diego / Calif., USA and Munich, Germany – October 5, 2004 – SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) and Infineon Technologies AG (FSE, NYSE: IFX) today announced a new radio frequency identification (RFID) offering to meet companies’ needs to connect and manage RFID hardware and software from multiple vendors. Based on the SAP NetWeaver™ technology platform and Infineon’s RFID You-R® OPEN (OPerating ENvironment) device integration platform, the new offering will help companies deploy RFID hardware, devices, tags and software components for RFID-enabled business processes while accelerating return on investment and reducing integration costs and risks. The announcement was made at SAP TechEd® 2004, SAP’s largest developer education conference of the year taking place in San Diego, California, from October 5 to 8 at the San Diego Convention Center, and at the RFID & Contactless Technology Forum of Silicon Trust, an Infineon partnership program, being held on 5. October at the Marriott Hotel in Munich, Germany.

Due to the rapidly growing and changing RFID solutions market, companies are facing the challenge of selecting, integrating and deploying a heterogeneous collection of RFID hardware and software components. SAP and Infineon are now offering companies a complete platform to accelerate deployment and reduce the costs and risks associated with managing RFID components from multiple sources. The platform can manage a full range of RFID implementations, from tags to enterprise applications, including RFID device management, related hardware and software products and services. SAP and Infineon will be offering the platform for pilot implementations in retail organizations as well as more complex installations in the industrial manufacturing, high tech and aerospace industries.

Available immediately, the offering will help companies meet current RFID mandates and scale to support future RFID-enabled business processes. In addition, companies will be able to undertake incremental roll-outs, beginning with basic compliance scenarios, scenarios relating to logistics, vendor-managed inventory and collaborative manufacturing and, as needs arise, moving to RFID industry solutions and full-scale RFID-enabled business processes. By providing an end-to-end, integrated hardware and software solution, SAP and Infineon are offering companies a well-aligned path to meet their requirements.

“The combination of SAP’s leading competence and outstanding customer base in business software solutions and Infineon’s expertise in RFID technology, system integration as well as tailor-made applications will help to accelerate RFID implementations throughout various industries,” said Peter Bauer, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Infineon Technologies AG. “The new scalable solution, which Infineon is already using within its own supply chains, is easy to implement and can grow with the RFID needs of our joint customers, from a simple pilot implementation to a full-scale RFID business process.”

Built on the open SAP NetWeaver technology platform, SAP’s RFID offering includes SAP® Auto-ID Infrastructure, SAP® Event Management (SAP EM) and preconfigured EPC (Electronic Product Code) reports in SAP® Business Information Warehouse and out-of-the-box integration into enterprise resource planning based supply chain execution and asset management processes. SAP’s open Auto-ID Infrastructure, the first of its kind, helps customers automate their RFID implementations and incrementally implement RFID-enabled business processes with backend systems. In addition to the device integration platform offered by Infineon, SAP’s RFID solution can be integrated into device management solutions provided by SAP’s device integration partners.

Infineon’s RFID solution You-R OPEN is an operating environment that links a company’s existing non-RFID-based logistics IT infrastructure to its newly installed RFID-supported logistics infrastructure. You-R OPEN supports the entire RFID hardware landscape - including smart labels, readers, PLCs (Programmable Logic Control), automation devices, PCs, servers, hardware components and IT networks - and also supports EPC (Electronic Product Code) global and other RFID standards. You-R OPEN allows configuration, installation, operation and maintenance of a complete RFID infrastructure by offering a flexible device management interface for all existing RFID reader and printer devices.

“With this offering, companies can accelerate their return on investment in RFID hardware, software and business processes,” said Claus Heinrich, Member of the Executive Board, SAP. “The combined solution from SAP and Infineon will help companies reduce integration costs while giving them the flexibility to rapidly adapt to new processes and changing standards. SAP and Infineon’s proven track record gives companies the stability they need to support a long-term investment in RFID technology and applications.”

SAP’s next major event

SAP TechEd ’04 Munich will be held from October 12 to 14 at the International Congress Centre in Munich, Germany.

Information on Infineon’s RFID product portfolio is available at www.infineon.com/rfid.

About SAP

SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software solutions. SAP® solutions are designed to meet the demands of companies of all sizes - from small and midsize businesses to global enterprises. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver™ open integration and application platform to reduce complexity and total cost of ownership and empower business change and innovation, mySAP™ Business Suite solutions are helping enterprises around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. The unique core processes of various industries, from aerospace to utilities, are supported by more than 25 SAP industry solutions. Today, more than 23,400 customers in over 120 countries run more than 79,800 installations of SAP® software. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol “SAP.” Further information is available at www.sap.com.

About Infineon

Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for the automotive and industrial sectors, for applications in the wired communications markets, secure mobile solutions as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In fiscal year 2003 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 6.15 billion with about 32,300 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at www.infineon.com.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2003 filed with the SEC on March 23, 2004. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

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Information Number

INFEB200410.001