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Santa
Clara, Calif., April 7, 2003—PortalPlayer, Inc.,
a leading supplier of platform solutions for consumer electronics
digital audio devices, today announced the appointment of
Gary Johnson as president and chief executive officer (CEO).
Johnson brings more than 25 years of experience in the technology
industry to PortalPlayer, including leading S3 Inc. to revenue
of nearly $450 million as a global leader in multimedia accelerators.
"Gary's
proven ability to develop and execute sound business strategies
in fast-growth, competitive environments make him an ideal
leader for PortalPlayer," said Dick Sanquini, Chairman
of the Board at PortalPlayer, Inc. "We became the leader
in digital audio by working closely with customers to implement
truly innovative products. Gary's skill set helps to build
on that success across the entire digital media solutions
market."
"PortalPlayer's
business and engineering teams have defined the platforms
for the most dynamic segment of the digital audio market today,
and we are just getting started," said Johnson. "I
am really looking forward to helping the company achieve its
full potential by continuing to design and deliver platforms
that connect people to a full range of digital entertainment
content."
Johnson
has a successful track record in building profitable businesses
in both start-ups and multinational market leaders. Most recently,
he was CEO of Z-force, a company he co-founded in 2000 to
develop a new category of network attached storage solutions.
From 1994 - 1999, Johnson served in executive positions at
S3, Inc., including President & CEO. During his tenure,
he developed several industry-first product lines for the
mobile and gaming markets, implemented consumer focused marketing
programs, raised more than $100 million in a secondary public
offering, and increased annual revenue by more than 400 percent.
Prior
to S3, Johnson held general manager, operations and marketing
positions at National Semiconductor, where he created two
product lines in the wireless communications space, including
pioneering work developing chips for the Wi-Fi (802.11) market.
At British Telecom (BT), where he started his career, Johnson
was an engineering department manager and headed engineering
teams developing products such as digital feature phones and
digital switches.
Johnson
holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronics Engineering
with First Class Honours from DeMonfort University in the
United Kingdom. He has served on the advisory boards of several
technology companies, including TuneTo.com (acquired by Listen.com),
Silicon Valley Networking Lab (acquired by Agilent), and Proquent
Systems.
About
PortalPlayer, Inc.
To
meet the growing demand for digital-audio-capable entertainment
products, leading manufacturers use PortalPlayer's platforms
to design and develop complete product families for the pocket,
home and car - from portable jukebox devices to stereo components
and systems that can record and playback digital media. PortalPlayer's
platforms are based on a fully customizable and scalable architecture
that includes a system on chip, firmware, and a PC-based digital
media manager application.
PortalPlayer
and the PortalPlayer logo are trademarks of PortalPlayer,
Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.
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