News

Kyocera Wireless Corp. Names Sam Samadi Vice President of Quality

San Diego - May 21, 2003 - Kyocera Wireless Corp., a leading global manufacturer of CDMA wireless phones, has named Sam Samadi as vice president of quality.

In this role, Samadi will lead Kyocera Wireless Corp.'s Quality Assurance, Customer Care and Operational Excellence teams, ensuring that key processes meet the highest standards and adhere to a strict customer, market and operational timetable. His group will be primarily responsible for quality, process and operational excellence initiatives, including deployment of best-in-class practices such as Lean Enterprise and Six Sigma.

Samadi's experience at both U.S. and international operations includes managing complex organizations of various cultures and diversities with revenues up to $1 billion. He has deployed Lean Enterprise, Total Quality Management and Six Sigma efforts and has managed to reduce new-product-introduction and time-to-market cycle times through implementation of concurrent engineering and robust design for manufacturing practices.

Samadi most recently served as the senior director in charge of North American manufacturing operations at Zomax Inc., a publicly traded contract manufacturer, where he directed manufacturing, value-added assembly, supply chain management, distribution/hub and logistics. Samadi also has held executive positions at Flextronics International, Celestica Inc., Harris Corp. and Xerox.

"Kyocera Wireless is fortunate to add to its roster an executive with Sam's leadership skills and successful track record in streamlining operations and reducing time-to-market cycles," said Skip Speaks, president and chief executive officer at Kyocera Wireless Corp. "Sam has managed top-level manufacturing operations for some of the biggest names in business. He is a valuable addition to our team."

"This is an exciting time to join Kyocera Wireless," said Samadi. "My responsibility will be to build upon the foundation for quality that Kyocera has been known for, while further enhancing the company's processes for manufacturing and operational efficiencies."

Samadi holds a master's degree in business administration and a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from California State Polytechnic University.




About Kyocera Wireless Corp.
Kyocera Wireless Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyocera International Inc., which acquired QUALCOMM Incorporated's CDMA consumer wireless phone business in February 2000. Kyocera Wireless Corp. is a leading supplier of innovative, feature-rich CDMA handsets and accessories for customers worldwide. Based in San Diego, the company is ISO-14001 and ISO-9001 certified and has won city, state and federal awards for its environmentally friendly manufacturing and recycling practices. For more information, please visit www.kyocera-wireless.com.

Kyocera Corporation, 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, cameras, laser printers, copiers, solar energy systems and industrial ceramics. During the year ended March 31, 2002, Kyocera Corporation's consolidated net sales totaled US$7.78 billion (JP¥ 1,034,574 million) with net income of US$240.25 million (JP¥ 31,953 million).


Copyright 2003 by Kyocera Wireless Corp. Kyocera is a registered trademark of Kyocera Corp. All other trademarks and product names are the property of their respective owners.



CONTACTS:
John Chier, Kyocera Wireless Corp.
phone 1-(858) 882-3543
e-mail: jchier@kyocera-wireless.com