Kyocera Continues Global Integration of Wireless Business, Forms Kyocera Communications Inc. in San Diego

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kyocera Corporation (Kyocera), parent and headquarters of the worldwide Kyocera Group, today announced the formation of Kyocera Communications Inc. (KCI), as a next step in the global integration of Kyocera's wireless device business. KCI, headquartered in San Diego, comprises the combined sales, marketing and service functions from Kyocera Wireless Corp. (KWC) and Kyocera Sanyo Telecom Inc. (KSTI), and will manage those functions for all Kyocera- and Sanyo-branded wireless devices in the Americas.

“There is great strength in the combined global forces of Kyocera and Sanyo’s mobile device groups and KCI represents the new face of this unified business for the Americas”

KCI’s formation is the latest step in the global integration of Kyocera’s communication equipment product segment, a segment that began in 1979 in Japan. Looking to expand globally, Kyocera purchased the wireless handset business of Qualcomm Inc. in 2000 and created KWC from its assets. Then, in April 2008, Kyocera acquired the wireless handset business of Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (Sanyo) and created KSTI from Sanyo’s North American team, which was headquartered in Chatsworth, Calif. On January 29, Kyocera announced that the global coordination of Kyocera's communication equipment product segment will take place at the company's product-line headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. Within the new structure, KCI will be Kyocera’s wireless sales, marketing, customer engineering and service operation for the Americas, representing virtually all products from the communication equipment product segment. Meanwhile, the remaining portion of KWC will focus on engineering, working closely with its counterparts in Yokohama.

Kyocera has appointed Eiichi Toriyama as president of KCI. Toriyama relocates to KCI’s San Diego headquarters from Japan, where he led sales and marketing for Kyocera’s wireless business in that country for the past two-and-a-half years. Toriyama joined Kyocera in 1972 and has spent all 37 years in sales and marketing, primarily for the company’s parts business.

“There is great strength in the combined global forces of Kyocera and Sanyo’s mobile device groups and KCI represents the new face of this unified business for the Americas,” said Toriyama. “Not only are we streamlining duplicated functions within the organization, but also we are creating synergies with unified, complementary product and technology roadmaps that will ultimately benefit our customers.”

KCI will operate under the Kyocera corporate brand, but will continue to sell and market a Sanyo-branded product line. Customers attending private meetings with Kyocera at the CTIA Wireless 2009 trade show, held this week in Las Vegas, are getting the first look at KCI’s unified product and technology roadmap. Show attendees visiting KCI’s booth (Number 4850) also will see a variety of Kyocera- and Sanyo-branded wireless handsets, along with examples of Kyocera’s globalized business including a prototype LTE (Long-term Evolution) base station and three iBurst terminal devices that were designed in Japan.

About Kyocera Communications Inc.

Kyocera Communications Inc. (KCI) is the sales, marketing, customer engineering and service headquarters for Kyocera- and Sanyo-branded wireless products and accessories in the Americas. The company’s devices are driving the convergence of telecommunications, broadband and multimedia. KCI was formed in April 2009 through the combination of Kyocera Wireless Corp. and Kyocera Sanyo Telecommunications Inc., two wholly owned subsidiaries of Kyocera International Inc. The former was created when Kyocera purchased QUALCOMM Incorporated's consumer wireless phone business in 2000, while the latter was formed when Kyocera purchased the wireless phone business of Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. in 2008. Based in San Diego, KCI leverages Japan's history of creating advanced consumer technologies around humanism and respect for the environment and blending them with a Western entrepreneurialism and style, resulting in a unique design language and a natural, user-friendly interface. For more information, please visit www.kyocera-wireless.com.

Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO), the parent and global headquarters of the Kyocera Group, was founded in 1959 as a producer of advanced ceramics. By combining these engineered materials with metals and plastics, and integrating them with other technologies, Kyocera has become a leading supplier of telecommunications equipment, semiconductor packages, electronic components, laser printers, copiers, solar energy systems and industrial ceramics. During the year ended March 31, 2008, Kyocera Corporation's consolidated net sales totaled approximately US$12.9 billion (JP¥1,290,436 million) with net income of approximately US$1.0 billion (JP¥107,244 million).