April 29, 1999 17:31
Neomagic and Infineon Link Up for Embedded DRAM-Based Product Manufacturing www1.newsalert.com
Multi-Year Capacity and Manufacturing Technology Agreement for Notebook Multimedia and Consumer Products
NeoMagic Corporation (Nasdaq: NMGC), the world's leading producer of single-chip multimedia accelerators for notebook computers, has signed a contract with Infineon Technologies (formerly Siemens Semiconductors) to supply semiconductor wafers for NeoMagic's embedded DRAM-based product lines.
"The addition of Infineon will provide increased capacity and flexibility for new product deliveries," said Abe Korgav, vice president, manufacturing operations at NeoMagic Corporation. "Improved economics and access to worldwide manufacturing resources will be important to our business. We are pleased to be able to add Infineon as a high-quality source of state-of-the-art fabrication technology. We anticipate volume production at Infineon to begin in the fourth quarter of this year, and we look forward to a growing and mutually beneficial business relationship between our two companies."
"This manufacturing relationship positions Infineon as a source of competitive advantage to NeoMagic in a fast moving marketplace," said Juergen Scholz, director of the Embedded DRAM group at Infineon Technologies. "NeoMagic is clearly the leader in a product category they virtually invented. Success, however, attracts imitators. To help them stay ahead, our job will be to supply technical, quality and logistical advantages necessary for continued success."
Complementary Skills
In just three years of production, NeoMagic has shipped over 15 million multimedia accelerators using embedded DRAM technology to such leading notebook PC manufacturers as Acer, Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, IBM, Micron, Mitsubishi, NEC, Panasonic, Sharp, Siemens, Sony and Toshiba. To date, the majority of NeoMagic's production capacity has been provided by long-term business partner Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, with Toshiba Semiconductor added last year as an additional supplier.
Infineon Technologies has taken a pioneering role in developing embedded memory manufacturing technologies, with commercial production dating back to 1989. Since then, the company has focused on offering the widest selection of eDRAM configuration options at the highest densities, lowest cost and highest performance. Initially, Infineon will deploy its latest 0.24-micron and 0.20-micron embedded DRAM technologies for the NeoMagic manufacturing program. Infineon's manufacturing and global supply chain capabilities strengthens NeoMagic's value proposition to manufacturers of portable electronics devices. This added capacity and value is important as NeoMagic moves into markets beyond notebook multimedia accelerators, including digital cameras, DVD drives and recorders, as well as other market opportunities driven by the trends towards multimedia, mobility and the Internet.
About Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG, formerly Siemens' Semiconductor Group, based in Munich, Germany, provides semiconductor technology for winning solutions in the communications, automotive, computer peripherals, consumer electronics, industrial automation, and wireless markets. The company's comprehensive line of products includes memory products, RF components, chip card ICs, discrete and power semiconductors, sensors and fiber optic components. In fiscal 1997/98, the company achieved sales of $3.8 billion (DM 6.7 billion) and employed 25,000 people worldwide.
Infineon Technologies Corporation is the company's North American affiliate, with headquarters at 1730 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95112. For more information, contact 800-777-4363; 408-501-6000; or see infineon.com.
About NeoMagic
NeoMagic Corporation, based in Santa Clara, California, has pioneered the integration of DRAM, complex logic, and analog circuits into single-chip solutions. The company's proprietary MagicWare(TM) technology increases performance while reducing power consumption, by eliminating the need to drive signals off-chip to discrete memory. In addition to multimedia accelerators for notebook computers, the company is now pursuing product opportunities in digital cameras, DVD drives, and DVD players. NeoMagic's multi-market strategy focuses on applications that benefit from mobility, small form factor, battery life, and performance enhancements, and provide value-added semiconductor solutions for mobilizing the capture, storage, access, and playback of digital multimedia content for the Internet age. NeoMagic may be contacted on the World Wide Web at www.neomagic.com, or at 408/988-7020.
Note to Editors: Infineon and the Infineon logo are trademarks of Infineon Technologies AG. NeoMagic, and the NeoMagic circle logo are registered trademarks of NeoMagic Corporation.
MagicWare is a trademark of NeoMagic Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. NeoMagic disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.
This release contains forward-looking statements, which reflect Infineon's and NeoMagic's current intentions and expectations. Actual events and results could vary significantly based on a variety of factors, including the successful development and ramping of production on new products and the risk of delays. Infineon Technologies AG and NeoMagic Corporation undertake no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
CONTACT: Infineon Technologies Martin Chorich, 408/501-6390 martin.chorich@infineon.com or NeoMagic Corporation Betty Watkins, 408/988-7020 bwatkins@neomagic.com or ChipShots, Inc. Bruce LeBoss, 408/541-8744 leboss@chipshots.com
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