SINA.com Press Center

0529

Bandai Networks, the Mobile Internet Subsidiary of Japanese Manufacturer of “Power Rangers” and “Hello Kitty” Toys, Bandai Co., Teams up with SINA to Provide Digital Character Content to Mobile Phones in China
***

Shanghai, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)—May 29, 2003-- SINA Corporation (Nasdaq:SINA), a leading online media company and value-added information service provider for China and for global Chinese communities, announced today that it has formed a strategic alliance with Bandai Networks, a subsidiary of the third largest toy company in the world, Bandai Co. Ltd., to provide digital character content to mobile phones in China. Established as a subsidiary of Bandai Co., Ltd. in September of 2000, Bandai Networks builds on its parent company's strength in character merchandising along with its own expertise in server management and applications to operate a wide variety of mobile phone and Internet content services. Some of the most popular properties and brands of Bandai Groups include the Power Rangers, Gundam, Digimon, Strawberry Shortcake and Hello Kitty product lines. To date, Bandai Networks boasts 4 million fee-based users to its domestic pay mobile phone services in Japan. It has the largest number of subscribers as a Mobile Contents Provider at present.

The first project of the venture will begin on May 30, 2003 providing digital character images and content to mobile phones using the SMS (Short Messaging Service) system. SINA will offer server operation and customer service while Bandai Networks will provide for content planning and development. China’s Short Messaging Service (SMS) usage, brought about by the rapid adoption of mobile phones, has experienced rapid growth in the past two years with volume growing from 16 billion messages sent in 2001 to 95 billion messages sent in 2002 and is expected to reach 200 billion in 2003.

“This represent an important strategic alliance for SINA’s wireless business” says CEO of SINA, Wang Yan. “Bandai’s know-how in character merchandising will further strengthen SINA’s wireless offerings, which has already proved to be a success for us.” For the quarter ending March 31, 2003, SINA’s SMS revenues grew 165% from the previous quarter to $9.2 million. The growth in mobile short messaging services has also helped to transform SINA from a dominant portal to a leading online/mobile media company with multiple inter-dependent business lines. The partnership with Bandai confirms management’s commitment in expanding SINA’s Wireless business.

About Bandai Co. Ltd.
Bandai Co., Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan is comprised of 53 subsidiaries in 18 countries. In addition to toys and children's entertainment, Bandai Co.'s global interests include video game software, multimedia, music and full-length feature films, vending machines, trading cards, candies and licensed apparel. Bandai Co., Ltd is traded on the Nikkei Exchange in Japan with a #1 ranking.

About SINA
SINA (Nasdaq:SINA) is the leading online media and value-added information service ("VAS") provider for China and for global Chinese communities. With a branded network of localized Web sites targeting Greater China and overseas Chinese, SINA operates three major business lines including SINA.com (online media and entertainment service), SINA Online (consumer fee-based online and wireless VAS) and SINA.net (small and medium-sized enterprises VAS), providing an array of services including online portals, premium email, wireless short messaging, virtual ISP, search, classified information, online games, e-commerce, e-learning and enterprise e-solutions.

To learn more about SINA, please log on to our corporate Web site at http://corp.sina.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. We may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in our periodic reports to the Securities and Exchange commission on forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, etc., in our annual report to shareholders, in our proxy statements, in our offering circulars and prospectuses, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by our officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current plans, estimates and projections, and therefore you should not place undue reliance on them. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, SINA historical losses, limited operating history, uncertain regulatory landscape in the People's Republic of China, fluctuations in quarterly operating results, the potential impact of SARS on the Company’s business operations, the Company's reliance on wireless short messaging service and online advertising sales for a majority of its revenues, the Company’s reliance on mobile operators in China to provide wireless short messaging service, any failure to successfully develop and introduce new products and any failure to successfully integrate acquired businesses. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in SINA's prospectus, 10K, 10Q and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:
Denise Roche
646-536-7008
droche@theruthgroup.com
Chen Fu
(86-21) 62895678 ext. 6089
fuchen@staff.sina.com