To: Duker who wrote (29364 ) 4/5/1999 9:55:00 AM From: KYA27 Respond to of 70976
LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES MICROELECTRONICS GROUP RANKED RANKED WORLD'S FASTES -Growing Major Semiconductor Business by Dataquest Unrivaled Growth Extends World Leadership in Communications Semiconductors ALLENTOWN, Pa., March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Lucent Technologies Microelectronics Group is the world's fastest-growing top-20 semiconductor business according to a report released this week by leading industry analyst, Dataquest. The report cites Lucent's semiconductor growth as 15.9 percent (internal plus external revenues) in 1998, at a time when the overall industry declined by 8.4 percent, and shows the company's move from number 15 up to 14 worldwide market share. The company attributes its success to its focus on providing system-on-a-chip solutions to the high-growth communications market. "In 1998 the semiconductor industry experienced one of its weakest years ever, but not all areas suffered," commented Joe D'Elia of Dataquest. "Microprocessor sales exploded after the PC gained wide acceptance in the late 80s and early 90s. Semiconductor solutions for communications applications are entering a similar period, driven by the demand for Internet connections and cell phones." "The semiconductor industry is undergoing a seismic shift from general-purpose chips to customized solutions," commented John Dickson, Lucent Technologies Microelectronics Group president. "We anticipated this trend five years ago and focused our business on providing complete systems on a chip for the hottest growth areas in the communications market. In the process, we transformed ourselves from a struggling captive supplier to an industry leader." Lucent continues to fuel its growth through acquisitions and partnerships which complement a steady stream of technological advances from Bell Labs. Last year, Lucent acquired Optimay GmbH, a software house for GSM cellular phones allowing it to offer an integrated hardware and software solution to consumer product manufacturers such as GVC of Taiwan and Eastcom of China. This provided them with the ability to reduce the time-to-market of their first GSM phones by 60 percent. An investment in Chip Express also allows Lucent to offer all of its customers a significant decrease in time-to-market through fast prototyping of system-on-a-chip solutions. Most recently, the company acquired Sybarus Technologies and the Ethernet LAN business of Enable Semiconductor to help it to offer broader networking solutions. Next-generation system- or sub-systems on a chip will be manufactured faster, more cost-effectively and with higher performance thanks to Lucent's new modular COM-2. Such systems will incorporate the latest in core design whether it be a digital signal processor (DSP) from the Star*Core alliance formed between Lucent and Motorola last June, or a microprocessor such as those developed by ARM or Motorola -- both of which Lucent has licensed. A huge increase in the need for additional network capacity has spurred demand for Lucent's optoelectronic components. The company met this increase in demand by tripling the capacity of its laser packaging facility in Breiningsville, Pennsylvania last September. Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronic components. Dell Laboratories is the research and development arm for the company. For more information on Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, visit its web site at lucent.com . Lucent's Microelectronics Group designs and manufactures integrated circuits and optoelectronic components for the computer and communications industries. More information about the Microelectronics Group is available from its web site at lucent.com . SOURCE Lucent Technologies NYSE/AMEX delayed 20 min. NASDAQ delayed 15 min.