Aware, Inc. reports 2002 fourth quarter and annual financial results

BEDFORD, MA - February 6, 2003 - Aware, Inc. (NASDAQ: AWRE), a worldwide leader in DSL (digital subscriber line) technology for high-speed Internet access over telephone networks, today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2002. 

Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2002 were $2.3 million compared to $3.2 million for the same period last year. Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2002 was $4.3 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $2.6 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, for the year-ago period. The net loss for the fourth quarter of 2002 includes $1.4 million of charges for a reduction in force and a provision for doubtful receivables.

For the year ended December 31, 2002, revenues were $13.8 million compared to $18.5 million in 2001. Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2002 was $18.7 million or $0.83 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $2.5 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, for the year-ago period. Excluding an income tax charge, net loss for the year ended December 31, 2002 was $11.6 million, or $0.51 per diluted share. In the third quarter of 2002, the company recorded a $7.1 million non-cash income tax charge in connection with the establishment of a full valuation allowance against previously recorded deferred tax assets.

Michael Tzannes, chief executive officer, said: "Two important trends are playing out in the ADSL industry. First, ADSL is on its way to becoming the most widely used broadband wide area network technology in the world, and ADSL itself is entering a new phase as it evolves into a more feature rich, robust technology. New standards consented by the ITU improve ADSL performance and reduce network operator costs. Aware was a leading contributor of technology for these new standards, known as ADSL2 (G.992.3 and G.992.4) and ADSL2+ (G.992.5)."

Continuing, Mr. Tzannes added: " In addition to pioneering new ADSL technology at standards, Aware recently announced the industry's most comprehensive IP solution embodying these new standards in a complete, easy to integrate package for chipset companies. We remain optimistic that Aware will return to better days as this new phase of the ADSL market develops."

Note: Aware's conference call will be broadcast live over the Internet today, February 6, 2003 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. To listen to the call, please go to www.aware.com, and click on "Investor Relations."

About Aware
Aware, Inc. designs, develops, licenses and markets DSL technology that enables broadband communications over existing telephone networks. Its solutions, including splitterless G.lite, full-rate ADSL, ADSL2, ADSL2+, VeDSL™, Dr. DSL®, XRDSL™, StratiPHY™, FastADSL™, BondedADSL™, and G.shdsl address central office as well as consumer electronics requirements. More information about Aware can be found at http://www.aware.com. 

Safe Harbor Warning
Portions of this release contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties, such as estimates or projections of future revenue and earnings and the growth of the DSL market. Aware wishes to caution you that there are factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results indicated by such statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: we have a unique business model, our quarterly results are difficult to predict, we depend on a limited number of licensees, we derive a significant amount of revenue from one customer, we depend on equipment companies to incorporate our technology into their products, we face intense competition from other DSL vendors, DSL technology competes with other technologies for broadband access, and our business is subject to rapid technological change. We refer you to the documents Aware files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the section titled Risk Factors in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2002 and other reports and filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

VeDSL, Dr. DSL, XRDSL, StratiPHY, FastADSL, and BondedADSL are trademarks or registered trademarks of Aware, Inc. Any other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.