Extron Electronics and Inline Inc. Combine Operations

Andrew C. Edwards, president and CEO of Extron Electronics, chairmanof the board of Inline Inc., announced that the two well-knowncomputer-video interfacing companies will combine their sales,marketing, engineering, product development, and production departmentseffective August 16, 2002. The combined group will operate from ExtronElectronics' headquarters facility in Anaheim, Calif. Inline's productlines will be marketed and supported by Extron Electronics throughExtron's world-wide facilities.

"Owning both companies that operated independently of each other wasvery effective in the past," explained Edwards. "Although competingwith each other in some product categories, the two organizationsfocused on different areas that suited the strengths of each. However,as the industry matured and both organizations grew, it became clearthat both companies would be more effective working together. This willallow us to combine the strengths of each company in order to continueto lead the industry in technology development and customer service."Inline's president, Art Garcia, noted, "We are very pleased to joinExtron's well-known and respected team. The combination of Inline'stalented staff with Extron's own technical strengths along with theirmanufacturing and customer support will create a stronger, more agilegroup."

Many of Inline's key personnel will be integrated into Extron'sorganization, including Art Garcia, Inline's president, who will joinExtron as a vice president, reporting to Andrew C. Edwards, presidentof Extron. Mike Andrews, Inline's vice president of marketing, willjoin Extron as director of marketing, reporting to Lee Dodson, vicepresident of marketing. Manfred Schneider, vice president ofengineering, will join Extron as a vice president of engineering,reporting to Brian Taraci, vice president of research and development.In addition, many other Inline personnel will be added to the Extronteam.

Extron's vice president of sales, Jeff Gibson, said, "BringingExtron and Inline together will allow each of us to strengthen ourproduct offerings and provide even better service, support, andsolutions to our customers." The combined group will be known as ExtronElectronics and will continue to focus on providing high-qualityaudio-video products, education and industry-leading customer supportto the professional audio-video industry, system integrators, andconsultants. Inline product sales and technical support will continueto be available through existing Inline phone numbers.

Details and more information can be found online at Extron'swebsite.

Extron Electronics, headquartered in Anaheim, Calif., is a leadingmanufacturer of professional A/V system products includingcomputer-video interfaces, switchers, matrix switchers, distributionamplifiers, signal-processing devices, and high-resolution cables.Extron’s signal-processing equipment is used to integrate videoand audio into presentation systems for today’s high-techboardrooms, presentation/training centers, university lecture halls,and other applications.