Aureal Enjoys Growth

Aureal Semiconductor released its earnings for the quarter ending April 4, 1999, and it couldn't be happier. Revenues for the quarter jumped from US$3.6 million in 1998 to this year's $12.6 million, an increase of 250 percent. Gross margins also increased to 34 percent from 1998's 22 percent.

"We believe that the excellent results we've seen during the first quarter of 1999 show that we're on track with the direction we've identified for Aureal," said Kip Kokinakis, president and CEO of Aureal. "During the quarter, we experienced strong growth in revenues, substantial gross margin improvement, introduced the low-cost Vortex AU8810 for motherboard and laptop integration, expanded our worldwide distribution channels, and entered into a significant strategic alliance to bring A3D to the Internet."

Aureal's flagship processor, the Vortex 2, is found at the heart of numerous sound cards, including the Diamond MX300, Xitel Storm Platinum and Turtle Beach Montego II. The continued success of these boards, coupled with increased developer support for A3D 2.0, Aureal's proprietary 3D sound API, should yield more growth for Aureal in the coming months.