SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- (Business Wire)

Forward Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:FORD), a leading global provider of mobile technology solutions, today announced an exclusive worldwide distribution partnership with Annex Products. The partnership includes the distribution of all Annex Products, beginning with the Opena® case and Quad Lock mounting system, two top performing iPhone 4 case accessories.

Drawing on their industrial design and toolmaking experience, Annex Products’ founders Rob Ward and Chris Peters, launched the Opena® case – the World’s first iPhone4 case with a slide-out bottle opener, in August 2011. The Opena® case attracted instant success and a celebrity following, including Ashton Kutcher.

Following the success of the Opena® case, Annex Products released Quad Lock - a revolutionary case-based mounting system for iPhone 4/4S handsets, which allows the use of an iPhone in more places than ever before. Made from ultra slim polycarbonate plastic, the Quad Lock idea came to Ward and Peters after becoming frustrated by the lack of a convenient mounting-solution. Quad Lock has received rave reviews for its ability to mount on bikes, cars, shopping carts, office walls, kitchen splash backs... almost anywhere... using one simple twist. Most recently, Ward and Peters were invited to showcase their products at MacWorld/iWorld 2012 in San Francisco this January, where they were widely recognised as the ‘most useful’ products on display.

Brett M. Johnson, Forward Industries’ Chief Executive Officer, commented: ”Our strategy is to partner with inventors to promote and distribute their unique and innovative intellectual property through our global distribution network. Annex is a perfect example of such a partnership. Our goal is to accelerate the success Annex has achieved with their Opena® case and Quad Lock innovations in the global consumer electronics marketplace.”

Rob Ward, Annex Products’ Co-Founder, commented, “We were approached by several potential partners to help us expand our reach. Forward’s distribution strength and financial partnership approach, impressed us the most. We are confident this partnership will substantially accelerate our adoption in the marketplace, while allowing us to increase our focus on award-winning product development.”

About Annex Products

Annex Products founded by Rob Ward and Chris Peters from Melbourne, Australia, two mates who like to make things happen, designed and developed the Opena® case. Chris is an Industrial Designer with a passion for good design and Rob is an idea's man with a knack for online sales and marketing. Together they combined their powers to make the Opena® case a reality. Originally launched on the crowd funding site Kickstarter in June 2011 it received huge interest and quickly jumped to 50% of funding goal in its first week. Word got out and it wasn't long before the Opena® was showing up on design and gadget blogs in Australia, America, France, Japan, and Russia! With the success of the Opena under their belt they formed Annex Products. The Quad Lock™ is their second product and is due to be in production in early 2012. For more information about Annex Products, visit www.annexproducts.com

About Forward Industries

Forward Industries, Inc. a designer and distributor of custom carrying case solutions for hand held electronic devices, is expanding into a multi-faceted product-focused company specializing in power, protection and peripherals, is expert at identifying new products that aim to make life more efficient with superior function and smart design that enhance daily life. For more information about Forward Industries, visit www.forwardindustries.com

Contacts:

Forward Industries, Inc.
Glenny Miller, 424-268-3856
gmiller@forwardindustries.com

Source: Forward Industries, Inc.