SAP Expands R&D in Shanghai

SAP Expands R&D in Shanghai
SAP Labs Opens New China Facility in Anticipation of Increasing Staff Levels to Meet Growing Global Development and Support Needs


SHANGHAI, China - March 22, 2006 - SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced the opening of a new research and development (R&D) facility in Shanghai to accommodate an expected strong increase in R&D staff in the coming years. The opening of the new facility for the current staff of more than 400 employees marks a strong beginning to a year of investment and expansion for SAP Labs China, bolstering its position as a world-class software R&D laboratory of the same high standards as SAP development facilities around the world. Products designed and developed at SAP Labs China are intended not only for SAP customers in the Asia-Pacific region but also for Europe and the United States.

“Over the last eleven years the lab has benefited from China’s growing pool of world-class IT and R&D professionals and from collaboration with China’s most prestigious universities and academic institutions,” said Claus Heinrich, member of the executive board, SAP AG, who was in Shanghai for the opening of the facility. “This combination has enabled the lab to make the leap from a localization facility serving Chinese customers to one of SAP’s premier global development centers.”

The strong growth of SAP’s business in China has encouraged the company to increase its investment in local R&D operations. With a compound annual growth rate of 70 percent over the last nine years, SAP is one of the most profitable foreign companies in China. Officially established in November 2003, SAP Labs China has grown to become SAP’s fifth largest development center, after SAP Labs locations in Germany, India, the United States and Israel. The new facility, on which construction began in March 2005, will enable the labs to move out of its currently rented quarters and into a permanent home that can accommodate future growth. SAP Labs China will begin to occupy its new facilities as of March 2006.

SAP Labs China focuses on software development for small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) with R&D work that encompasses the entire product life cycle from market research through prototyping, development, rollout and support. Concepts originated by SAP Labs China—such as the SAP® Best Practices Baseline Package of implementation procedures, documentation and preconfiguration settings, and the recently developed toolkit for the SAP Safe Passage program—have gone on to become mainstream offerings used by SAP customers around the world.

The Shanghai location also acts as a regional technology and solution center supporting fast-growing markets across Asia, including Australia, China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and India. As part of SAP’s worldwide network of R&D operations, SAP Labs China collaborates closely with other SAP research facilities around the world as well as with SAP’s global field operations, partners and customers.