Peerless Expands Family of QuickPrint ASICs to Address the Workgroup Digital Copier and Printer Markets.

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 2000

Peerless' Latest "System-on-a-Chip" Solution Delivers Unsurpassed

Price/Performance for Products up to 45 Pages per Minute

Peerless Systems Corporation (NASDAQ:PRLS), a leader in embedded networking and imaging systems, today announced the newest in the family of highly integrated controller systems. Utilizing Peerless' newest "System-on-a-Chip," QP+405(TM), this workgroup controller includes complete imaging and PDL support as well as networking and Internet connectivity with a hardware cost estimated at half that of competing configured controllers in the market for mid-range office copier/printers. The tightly integrated QP+405(TM) targets the rapidly increasing workgroup digital copier market segments as well as their corresponding printer segments.

"Our new integrated chip design, which is based on the proven technology of IBM's PowerPC(TM) 405 core and Peerless' highly successful QuickPrint(R) graphics coprocessor, is the result of our dedicated focus on research and development in ASICs," said Gary Panzer, Peerless' Director of Silicon Strategy. "The QP+405(TM), the newest addition to Peerless' family of ASIC solutions reflects our continued commitment to providing our customers with high-quality, highly featured and cost-effective solutions through our fabless semiconductor business model."

Peerless' Integrated QuickPrint ASIC Family Expands with the

QP+405

The QuickPrint(R) QP+405(TM) is a single tightly integrated chip integrated graphics processor that includes all the major processing and control units required for printing into a single component, resulting in efficient graphics performance at very attractive price points. Through tight integration of logic into a single VLSI device, the "System-on-a-Chip" design reduces the number of required controller parts resulting in lower manufactured costs. The main modules integrated into the QP+405(TM) are Peerless' patented seventh generation of QuickPrint(R) graphic co-processing core and IBM Microelectronics' PowerPC(TM) 405 core at 200 MHz processing speed and nearly 300 MIPS of performance.

In addition to the major CPU processing components of this chip, Peerless' QP+405(TM) ASIC is fully loaded with built-in logic required to sustain system performance for highly intensive graphic document processing and designed for both monochrome and color embedded controllers. The chip includes a high performance on-chip bus architecture, 32KB data and instruction cache arrays, PowerPC(TM) floating point unit (FPU) for optimal graphic processing, as well as multiple forms of graphics and video compression/decompression algorithms to avoid usage of additional costly chips.

Adding System Functionality

The architecture of the QP+405(TM) lends itself to a less costly solution due to its high level of integration. A fully configured Peerless controller can be designed utilizing the QP+405(TM) and off-the-shelf parts such as memory and connectors, while the competing solutions may require multiple ASICs and proprietary parts driving costs 30 - 40% more than the Peerless design.

This Peerless simplified chip design is fully compatible with Peerless' state of the art networking connectivity solutions including an embedded Web server to support network and job management for easier printer maintenance and end user control. Peerless' Software Print Server (SPS(TM)) provides a cost effective solution that supports all popular networking environments, such as Microsoft Windows(R), Novell NetWare(R), Internet, UNIX, and Apple Macintosh(R). SPS(TM) supports a full range of remote management options including SNMP with the standard printer MIB and a Web server facility providing remote Internet access to the device. Due to its high level of integration with the imaging software, SPS(TM) also provides unsurpassed performance needed to handle the higher data rates necessary to keep the imaging engine running at the engine's rated speed.

Peerless' patented object based imaging technology enables All-Pages-Print(TM) and RIP-on-the-Fly(TM) for popular printing languages such as PCL(TM) and Adobe PostScript(R), resulting in predictable printing behavior necessary for user acceptance in the enterprise market. A complete family of monochrome and color PCL-compatible and genuine Adobe(R) PostScript(R) printer drivers for popular Windows(R) environments complement the embedded solutions for a complete end-to-end imaging system.

"IBM recognizes that many OEMs in the printer market are looking for efficient printer controller solutions," said Thomas Marts, Marketing Manager for Imaging Systems, IBM Microelectronics. "The PowerPC(TM) 405 core is ideal for system-on-a-chip applications such as imaging and is highly complementary to Peerless' family of QuickPrint(R) technology and software expertise."

Availability

The new QP+405(TM) ASIC will be available in September 2000 for integration into industry leading printers and digital copiers up to 45 ppm. OEMs of embedded imaging controllers may directly order the QP+405(TM) parts from Peerless or one of its authorized distributors.

About Peerless Systems Corporation

Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Peerless Systems is a leader in imaging and networking systems to manufacturers of color, monochrome and multifunction office products and digital appliances. Its broad line of scalable software and silicon offerings, and unique ImageWorks delivery model enable its customers to shorten their time-to-market and reduce costs by offering a single, scalable solution for multiple products.

Peerless Systems, which was founded in 1982 and listed on the NASDAQ Exchange since 1996, maintains relationships with all OEMs of digital document products. Its customer list includes blue chip companies such as Canon, IBM, Kyocera, Minolta, Ricoh, Seiko Epson, Tektronix, Xerox and other international corporations. Peerless also holds strategic partnerships with Adobe, IBM Microelectronics, Motorola, Novell and other technology leaders.

For more information, please call [phone] or visit the Web site at www.peerless.com.

Auco, Peerless, PeerlessPage, PeerlessPowered, AccelePrint, All-Pages-Print, MultiPrint, OptiSys, PicturePrint, SyntheSys and Camera Page Language (CPL) are trademarks of Peerless Systems Corp. Memory Reduction Technology (MRT), Peerless Systems, PeerlessPrint, QuickPrint, and WinEXPRESS are registered trademarks of Peerless Systems Corp. PCL is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation 

Reform Act of 1995:

With the exception of historical information, the statements set forth above include forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties. These statements include the acquisition of Auco and HDE. The company wishes to caution readers that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Those factors include the following: the fact that the company's markets are characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards and frequent introductions of new products and enhancements, and the company's ability to respond to such changes; fluctuations in OEM shipments which generate the Company's license fee revenue; difficulties which the company may experience in completing the development of turnkey designs for OEM customers, its digital photography technology, its integrated multifunction semiconductor solutions or other products; the fact that the multifunction and color markets targeted by the company are at an early stage of development; the highly competitive nature of the markets for the company's products; the company's ability to attract and retain skilled personnel; the company's reliance on third party suppliers for components used in the company's products; the quarterly variability in the company's bookings and design wins; and the company's reliance on a relatively small number of OEM customers for a large percentage of its revenue. These and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are also discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its recent filings on Forms S-4, 10-K and 10-Q. The company disclaims any obligation to update these statements for subsequent events.

This news release refers to various products and companies by their trade names. In most, if not all, cases these designations are claimed as trademarks or registered trademarks by their respective companies.