WEST KINGSTON, R.I., Oct. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Power Conversion (Nasdaq: APCC) (APC), a leading global provider of end-to-end infrastructure availability solutions, received broad-based recognition across key applications and geographical markets in the third quarter 2005. The company's products for home electronics to desktop PCs to servers and enterprise applications again stood out from the competition on factors such as innovation, efficiency, and reliability.

"APC's global offerings provide power protection and availability solutions for applications ranging from home electronics to the largest of enterprise computing needs," commented Aaron L. Davis, APC vice president of marketing and communications. "The fact that we continue to win such a long list of distinguished awards across markets and applications is a clear indication of the industry-leading investment we make in understanding customer needs and developing products that deliver a superior solution. While we make great strides in new categories such as data centers, cooling, Audio/Visual and biometric security, we are gratified that our core uninterruptible power supply (UPS) solutions remain tops in the industry."

Users and reviewers of APC's server and data center class products continued to recognize APC. In the Disaster Prevention and Recovery segment of the annual Windows IT Pro "Readers' Choice" awards, APC products placed first and second in the Best UPS category. Windows IT Pro readers voted overwhelmingly for American Power Conversion's (APC's) InfraStruXure(TM) product for Best UPS in the Disaster Prevention and Recovery Category. The publication went on to describe APC's revolutionary architecture as "not merely a traditional UPS, InfraStruXure is an 'on-demand architecture' for ensuring networking availability ... " Additionally, APC's Smart-UPS(R) tied for second place in this year's voting, giving APC a strong one-two performance.

Internationally, UpGrade magazine in Portugal named InfraStruXure an "Outstanding Product." In Russia, APC's innovative new InfraStruXure with Integrated Fuel Cells was "Product of the Month" in the July issue of PC Magazine. Additionally, enterprise users in India named APC the Best Enterprise Power Conditioning Company. APC earned this designation for the third consecutive year in PC Quest's annual "Users' Choice" awards.

In Latin America, APC earned an Editor's Choice for several of its enterprise offerings from Compuchannel, Infochannel, Digital Market, Revistacompudata.com and Negocio Inteligente in the Caribbean, Central America and Andean Region. APC's InfraStruXure Manager Appliance was named "Editor's Choice" as the Best Network Management Appliance; the APC Smart-UPS RT 1500, part of the company's new on-line series, received an "Editor's Choice" as the Best UPS for Server Protection (Intel Based); and the Smart-UPS SC 1500 earned the "Editor's Choice" designation for Best Line-Interactive UPS - 1kVA to 5kVA.

As increasing thermal issues challenge IT managers in the data center and server rooms and closets, CRN's test lab reviewed APC's Rack Side Air Distribution Unit and Rack Side Air Removal Unit. In the August 29 issue of CRN, the test center gave the APC products a "Recommended" rating. The review determined, "The unit presents an ideal answer for addressing cramped server closets."

APC's overall performance garnered the company several significant designations during the quarter. For the sixth consecutive year, APC has been named to CMP Media LLC's InformationWeek 500, a prestigious listing of the most innovative users of information technology in the United States.

For 17 years, the InformationWeek 500 has tracked organizations' IT agendas, providing a unique opportunity to understand and examine their business practices across core areas of technology operations. Companies named to this list demonstrate a pattern of technological and organizational innovation. Capital One, which is ranked No. 1, followed by SC Johnson & Sons Inc., Eastman Kodak Co. and BellSouth Corp, are some of the household names being honored for their innovative IT practices. APC is among the 500 companies recognized for IT innovation this year.

In Latin America, APC's overall efforts were also well recognized. In Brazil, APC was among the "Top 200 Largest IT Companies" in Info Exame magazine's annual ranking and was a "Readers' Choice - Top 5" selection from NEI (Noriciario de Equipamentos Industriais) magazine. Channel partners in Argentina are happy with APC as IT Sitio named APC the "UPS Brand Most Recommended by the Channel." The magazine surveyed more than 700 resellers to determine this designation and APC received more votes than all the competition combined.

In Asia, APC was the "Most Outstanding Computer Power Protection Company" in the Metro Manila division of the 2005 Philippine Marketing Excellence Awards. The event, staged for the second time, honored companies for having outstanding marketing practices. APC excellence in numerous marketing metrics, including market leadership, market awareness, innovative marketing practices, customer confidence and product/service quality garnered it this prestigious designation. The Philippine Marketing Excellence Awards Institute, Inc., the Asian Institute of Marketing and Entrepreneurship and Sales and Marketing Magazine organized the awards.

For consumers and desktop applications, APC continues to deliver products that are in line with customer needs and outshine the competition. In the power protection arena, APC's Back-UPS(R) remain the top choice. PC Magazine in Italy gave the Back-UPS CS 650 "5 out of 5 stars." In Russia, TechnoNEWS awarded the Back-UPS CS 525 with the "Recommended by TechnoNEWS" designation. The review touted the unit's price versus functionality, elaborate design and good configuring and monitoring. In India, Electronics for You named APC the "Best UPS."

APC's offerings for consumers and electronics go beyond the traditional UPS and again the company's products were well distinguished in the third quarter. APC's recent introduction of the S-15 Power Conditioner for A/V equipment was a "Product of the Year" in Electronic House magazine. In the September 2005 issue, the magazine stated, "APC has taken its experience in the IT field and used it to engineer a power conditioner/surge protector that incorporates battery backup in case of a power failure. And you don't need to be an electronics geek to notice that improvement the S15 makes in your system's performance. Cool because home electronics cost a lot of money, and the S15 can protect that investment!"

For users trying to remember too many IDs and passwords, APC's biometric solutions continue to shine. APC's Biometric Password Manager was recognized by several international publications including: "Best Product 2004" in the Security category by PC World in Argentina; "Recommended" by Enter in Poland and Personal Computer World in the UK; a "Best Buy for IT in 2005" by Comesa Insight in Kenya; and APC's new Biometric Mouse Password Manager received an "Editor's Choice" designation from Zataz News in France.

In Portugal, additional APC products for the mobile professional were recognized. APC's TravelPower Roller Case received "4 Stars" from Exame Informatica and the company's Universal Notebook Battery won a "Silver Medal" from PC Guia.

Finally, APC's efforts in the broadband market landed the company among Broadband Properties magazine's list of the "Top 100 Companies in the Broadband Marketplace."