SAN JOSE, Calif. & SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Immersion Corporation (Nasdaq:IMMR), the leading developer and licensor of touch feedback technology, today announced that it has expanded its presence in China with the opening of an official business entity. Immersion (Shanghai) Science & Technology Company, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary in China, will enable the company to expand its sales and support for its growing customer base, broadens its engagement with the mobile ecosystem, and establishes a new technology center in the region.
The Chinese market is continuing to grow in significance in the global mobile landscape. According to Hong Kong based research firm, Counterpoint, in China, six out of the 10 top smartphone vendors are domestic to China. In addition, approximately 40% out of the 1 billion mobile phone users in China use a smart phone. Immersion’s growing presence in the region is a result of the increasing demand from device manufacturers, developers and content providers for innovative technologies that will give them an advantage in the intense competition to create the best user experience. With Immersion’s technology, companies can create multi-dimensional mobile experience to enhance device user interfaces, social media and messaging communications, ads and entertainment, and mobile video with tactile effects.
“China is a key region for us. We believe that by building up our local presence and expanding our sales, support and development teams, we will be able to accelerate our business engagements with new customers, and continue our work with current ones, such as Xiaomi,” said Vic Viegas, CEO and president of Immersion Corporation. “China’s appetite for mobile technology and services has created a market full of innovative companies and fast adopters that are driven to satisfy the savvy consumer. In our work with companies throughout the ecosystem in China – OEMs, carriers, developers and content owners – we are seeing creative design and innovative use of haptics to build great user experiences and bring new value to consumers.”
As the regional technology center, Immersion (Shanghai) Science & Technology Company, Ltd., will focus on design and development of haptic user experiences. Supported by a suite of solutions including, TouchSense® software, SDKs, tools and intellectual property, Immersion enables the creation of high quality, power-efficient touch and motion feedback in devices and content. The business will work directly with China’s broad and innovative mobile ecosystem to deliver engaging tactile experiences to the region, and across the globe.
To lead Immersion’s efforts in China, the company has brought onboard a seasoned industry executive, Howard (Hongming) Li, as general manager of Immersion Greater China business. “The Chinese market is growing in depth, as well as breadth. Our goal is to help our customers create high-quality, well-designed mobile applications, devices and services that enable greater interactivity, and a more engaging and satisfying consumer experience overall,” stated Li. “With an office now established in Shanghai, we plan to grow our staff to address and work directly to meet our customer demands in the region.”
Through its work with the world’s leading consumer brands, Immersion has grown the adoption of haptic technology to over 1 Billion consumer devices, globally. Its technology is in use, today, across a range of markets, including mobile, gaming, medical devices, automotive interfaces and consumer appliances. To learn more about haptics and Immersion’s products and tools, visit www.immersion.com
About Immersion (www.immersion.com)
Founded in 1993, Immersion (NASDAQ: IMMR) is the leading innovator in haptics, or tactile effects; the company's touch feedback solutions deliver a more compelling sense of the digital world. Using Immersion's high-fidelity haptic systems, partners can transform user experiences with unique and customizable touch feedback effects; excite the senses in games, videos and music; restore "mechanical" feel by providing intuitive and unmistakable confirmation; improve safety by overcoming distractions while driving or performing a medical procedure; and expand usability when audio and visual feedback are ineffective. Immersion's TouchSense technology provides haptics in mobile phone, automotive, gaming, medical and consumer electronics products from world-class companies. With over 1,600 issued or pending patents in the U.S., China and other countries, Immersion helps bring the digital universe to life.
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of Immersion Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
All statements, other than the statements of historical fact, are statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements that Immersion’s presence in China will enable Immersion to expand Immersion’s sales and support for its growing customer base and broaden Immersion’s engagement with the mobile ecosystem, statements regarding the benefits of Immersion’s technology, statements regarding Immersion’s belief that by building up local presence and expanding Immersion’s sales, support and development teams, Immersion will be able to accelerate its business engagements with new customers, and continue its work with current ones, such as Xiaomi, statements regarding Immersion’s beliefs relating to the China market, statements regarding Immersion’s plans with respect to the regional technology center in China, and statements regarding Immersion’s plans to grow its staff in China.
Immersion's actual results might differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties associated with Immersion's business, which include, but are not limited to: unanticipated difficulties and challenges encountered in establishing and operating Immersion’s business entity in China, unanticipated difficulties and challenges in product development efforts by Immersion and its licensees in China; lack of market demand for Immersion’s technologies; unanticipated difficulties and challenges encountered in implementation efforts by Immersion’s licensees; adverse outcomes in any future intellectual property-related litigation and the costs related thereto; the effects of the current macroeconomic climate; delay in or failure to achieve commercial demand for Immersion's products or third party products incorporating Immersion's technologies; and a delay in or failure to achieve the acceptance of touch feedback as a critical user experience. Many of these risks and uncertainties are beyond the control of Immersion.
For a more detailed discussion of these factors, and other factors that could cause actual results to vary materially, interested parties should review the risk factors listed in Immersion's most current Form 10-Q, which is on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect Immersion's beliefs and predictions as of the date of this release. Immersion disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements as a result of financial, business, or any other developments occurring after the date of this release.
The use of the word "partners" in this press release does not mean legal partners.
Immersion, the Immersion logo, and TouchSense are trademarks of Immersion Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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