KONE and Toshiba Announce High-Rise Elevator Collaboration

Press Release Published 21/04/2004

KONE of Finland and Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation of Japan have agreed to strengthen their Alliance through long-term collaboration in the advancement of high-rise elevator technology.

As a first step, KONE and Toshiba have agreed to a licensing arrangement enabling KONE to supply high-speed double-deck elevators based on Toshiba's proven technology and Toshiba to gain access to new markets outside Asia. The Alliance partners have also agreed to exploit, on a case-by-case basis, the potential for collaboration in competing for and carrying out mega-projects around the globe.

The elevator industry is creating ever faster and more efficient vertical transportation systems to serve skyscrapers that sometimes rise to over one hundred floors. Double-deck elevators consist of two elevator cars in the same hoistway, one on top of the other. The market for double-deck elevators is expected to grow during the next decade.

"Our co-operation with Toshiba will benefit customers through the delivery of installations with superior performance, shorter time to market for new products, and the eventual creation of new technologies. Double-deck elevator solutions create significant space savings and increase traffic handling capacity for building owners. Toshiba offers a highly sophisticated version that allows the two elevator cars to adjust to different landing levels by moving somewhat closer together or farther apart within the sling", Klaus Cawén, Executive Vice President for KONE, explains.

Toshiba and KONE both have impressive track records in high-rise elevator projects worldwide. Toshiba is the sole supplier of elevators and escalators for the Taipei Financial Center in Taiwan, which will be, at 508 meters, the highest building in the world upon completion. In addition to featuring the world's fastest elevators (17 m/s), the building will be served by 34 double-deck units with hoisting machines supplied by KONE. Toshiba has also delivered double deck elevators with adjustable floor-to-floor system to the recently opened 238-meter-tall Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, which dominates the landscape in the center of Tokyo. KONE's recent high-rise references include the Hyatt Center in Chicago, Citigroup office tower in London, Galileo Tower in Frankfurt am Main, the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai and the Q1 Tower on Australia's Gold Coast. The Q1 elevators will travel at speeds up to 9.0 m/s.

Sender:

KONE Corporation

Tapio Hakakari
Secretary to the Board of Directors

Klaus Cawén
Executive Vice President

For additional information, please contact:
Klaus Cawén, Executive Vice President, phone: +358 (0)204 75 4492

KONE is a global service and engineering company that specializes in moving people and goods. It comprises two divisions: KONE Elevators & Escalators and Kone Cargotec. KONE Elevators & Escalators sells, manufactures, installs, maintains and modernizes elevators and escalators, and services automatic building doors. Kone Cargotec supplies products and services to facilitate moving and loading cargo. KONE's B shares are listed on the Helsinki Exchanges.

www.konecorp.com

2004-04-21 KONE and Toshiba Announce High-Rise Elevator Collaboration

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