IRVINE, Calif., June 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Netlist, Inc.
(NASDAQ: NLST), a leading provider of high performance and hybrid
memory solutions for the cloud computing and storage markets, today
announced the appointment of Richio Aikawa as Senior Director of
Marketing and Alliances. In this new role he will lead the
Company's product management and strategic alliances.
Aikawa brings nearly 30 years of experience in driving strategic
partnerships, defining and launching new technology products, and
establishing technical partner programs across global
organizations. Most recently, he served as Sr. Manager of
Product Management and Solution Marketing at Solarflare
Communications, a global provider of network I/O software and
hardware, where he focused on growing virtualization, cloud and web
business segments and established technology and strategic
partnerships. Previously, Aikawa served as Director of
Strategic Alliances and Business Development at Emulex, a global
leader in storage and network connectivity and before that as
Product Manager and Member of the Technical Staff at Rockwell
International. Aikawa holds a BS degree in
Mathematics-Systems Science from University of
California, Los Angeles; an MSEE degree from Cal State Fullerton; and an MBA from University of Redlands.
Brian Peterson, Sr.
Vice-President of Sales and Marketing at Netlist said, "Richio
brings an extensive understanding of storage, networking, and
systems experience to Netlist. He joins at an ideal time to drive
key alliances for HyperVault® which we expect will transform the
main memory channel with expanded performance and capacity and
deliver on the promise of storage class memory."
As an inducement to Mr. Aikawa entering into employment with
Netlist, Netlist's Compensation Committee granted to Mr. Aikawa an
option to purchase up to 150,000 shares of its common stock with an
exercise price of $1.31 per share,
which is equal to the closing sale price of Netlist's common stock
on the grant date of the option. The option has a term of ten
years and will generally be forfeited if not exercised before the
expiration of that term. A total of 100,000 shares, subject
to the option, will vest over four years, one quarter vesting on
the anniversary of the grant date and the remainder vesting in
equal quarterly installments thereafter subject to Mr. Aikawa's
continued service with Netlist through such vesting date. A total
of 50,000 shares are tied to performance goals. The options
will be granted outside of Netlist's 2006 Equity Incentive Plan,
but will be subject to terms substantially similar to those of
non-qualified stock options granted under such plan. This
description of the inducement option grant to Mr. Aikawa is in
satisfaction of the disclosure requirements set forth in NASDAQ
Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).
About Netlist, Inc.
Netlist creates solutions that accelerate turning data into
information. The company produces next generation persistent memory
solutions that enable businesses to transact quicker, gain insight
faster, and reduce datacenter costs. Flagship products NVvault® and
EXPRESSvault™ accelerate system performance and provide mission
critical fault tolerance. HyperVault®, Netlist's next-generation
architecture, expands the performance and capacity of memory
channel storage. The company holds a portfolio of patents, many
seminal, in the area of hybrid memory, rank multiplication and
load-reduction, among others. To learn more, visit
www.netlist.com.
Safe Harbor Statement:
This news release contains forward-looking statements
regarding future events and the future performance of Netlist. A
forward-looking statement is neither a prediction nor a guarantee
of future events or circumstances and is based on currently
available market, operating, financial and competitive information
and assumptions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those expected or projected, including, among others, risks
associated with the launch and commercial success of our products,
programs and technologies; the success of product, joint
development and licensing partnerships; continuing development,
qualification and volume production of HyperVault™, EXPRESSvault™,
NVvault®, HyperCloud® and VLP Planar-X RDIMM; the timing and
magnitude of the continued decrease in our sales; our ability to
leverage our NVvault® and EXPRESSvault™ technology in a more
diverse customer base; our need to raise additional capital and our
ability to obtain financing when necessary; the rapidly-changing
nature of technology; risks associated with intellectual property,
including patent infringement litigation against us as well as
the costs and unpredictability of litigation over infringement of
our intellectual property and the possibility of our patents being
reexamined or reviewed by the United States Patent and Trademark
office and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board; volatility in the
pricing of DRAM ICs and NAND flash; changes in and uncertainty of
customer acceptance of, and demand for, our existing products and
products under development, including uncertainty of and/or delays
in product orders and product qualifications; delays in our and our
customers' product releases and development; introductions of new
products by competitors; changes in end-user demand for technology
solutions; our ability to attract and retain skilled personnel; our
reliance on suppliers of critical components and vendors in the
supply chain; fluctuations in the market price of critical
components; evolving industry standards; the political and
regulatory environment in the People's
Republic of China; and general economic and market
conditions. Other risks and uncertainties are described in our
annual report on Form 10-K filed on March 4,
2016, and subsequent filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission we make from time to time. Except as required
by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
For more information, please contact:
Brainerd Communicators, Inc.
Mike Smargiassi/Jenny Perales
NLST@braincomm.com
(212) 986-6667
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150225/177763LOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/netlist-appoints-richio-aikawa-as-senior-director-of-marketing-and-alliances-300284074.html
SOURCE Netlist, Inc.