News

Kyocera Wireless Wins Recognition for Earth-Friendly Practices

Company garners two top environmental honors from City of San Diego for recycling and energy conservation efforts

San Diego -- (April 22, 2004) -- Kyocera Wireless Corp., a leading global manufacturer of CDMA wireless handsets and telemetry modules, announced that it has received two prestigious environmental honors from the City of San Diego, recognizing the company's ongoing commitment to Earth-friendly business practices.

"Continuing Kyocera Corporation's 44-year tradition of harmonious coexistence with nature and our society, Kyocera Wireless Corp. has a proven commitment to environmental preservation and we're very pleased the City of San Diego has once again honored us for our recycling and energy conservation efforts," said Tsuyoshi Mano, president of Kyocera Wireless Corp.

The City of San Diego's Environmental Services Department (ESD) annually recognizes exemplary businesses like Kyocera Wireless Corp., that have adopted or expanded innovative and successful waste reduction, recycling and recycled product procurement programs. For the fourth consecutive year, the City has honored Kyocera Wireless Corp. for its comprehensive recycling programs and extensive outreach and educational activities to encourage greater employee participation. This year, the City will present the "2004 Director's Recycling Award" to the company for the success of its 2003 recycling programs. These efforts successfully diverted more than 2.3 million pounds of paper, plastic, electronic and other company waste from local landfills. By using more than 5.4 million gallons of reclaimed water for irrigation, the company also conserved enough drinking water to service approximately 86 households for a year. The combined revenues and cost savings from the company's recycling programs totaled more than $1.14 million last year.

The City ESD has also given Kyocera Wireless Corp. its top honor recognizing energy conservation efforts. For the second consecutive year, the company has been named "Climate Wise-Energy Star® Partner of the Year" in a program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The program, administered locally by the City, is based on the principle that energy efficiency and pollution prevention are essential components of any successful strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Kyocera's energy conservation programs include enterprise-level load-shedding, HVAC upgrades and extensive educational outreach to its 3,000 employees. In 2003, the company conserved a whopping 1,675,317 kilowatts -- enough electricity to power 349 average households for one year-- netting an overall savings of more than $185,000 in utility fees.

The continued growth of Kyocera Wireless Corp. and other successful companies with Earth-friendly practices dispels the notion that environmental preservation hinders progress, clearly demonstrating that social and environmental responsibility is not only attainable, but can also prove financially beneficial. While Kyocera appreciates the cost savings these programs afford, its ongoing commitment to the environment is an embedded component of its core business philosophy.

According to Mano, "Environmental preservation is one of Kyocera's founding principles. At Kyocera Wireless, we don't practice conservation for financial gain, but rather because it's simply the right thing to do."

More information about Kyocera Wireless Corp., including the company's ISO-14001 environmental certification, is available at www.kyocera-wireless.com. Information on Kyocera Corporation's global environmental preservation efforts is available at http://global.kyocera.com/company/ecology.html.

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, California, 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, 2003, Kyocera Corporation's consolidated net sales totaled approximately US$9 billion (JP¥ 1,069,770 million) with net income of approximately US$348 million (JP¥ 41,165 million).

© 2004 Kyocera Wireless Corp. All rights reserved. Kyocera is a registered trademark of Kyocera Corporation. All other trademarks and product names are the property of their respective owner.

CONTACTS:

Mary Palmer
Kyocera Wireless Corp.
phone: 1-(858) 882-2479
e-mail: mpalmer@kyocera-wireless.com

Michelle Metter/Maria Amor
Formula
phone: 1-(619) 234-0345
e-mail: metter@formulapr.com
e-mail: amor@formulapr.com