News & Events
Intersil And Fairchild Semiconductor To Join Forces On Power Ic Development

— Technology agreement will yield power ICs tailored for use in laptop PCs

PALM BAY, FL, December 14, 1999 – Intersil Corporation and Fairchild Semiconductor International (NYSE: FCS) today announced a strategic partnership to co-develop power integrated circuits (ICs) tailored for use in laptop and portable computers. The development agreement between the two semiconductor manufacturers will allow them both to offer second-sourced power management circuits for low-voltage, portable computing applications.

"This technology partnership makes the most of Intersil and Fairchild’s design and development expertise in power management," says George Gidzinski, vice president and general manager of Intersil’s Analog & Mixed-Signal ICs. "The combination of our design and manufacturing resources and expertise through this joint venture will give customers greater access to power ICs for the fast-growing portable PC market. The resulting products will offer higher levels of integration and higher efficiencies than power ICs currently available for laptops."

Under terms of the agreement, Intersil and Fairchild will co-develop power ICs which provide core voltage to the central processing unit (CPU) and provide battery monitoring functions for laptop, notebook and portable computers. Release timing of these components by both companies is expected in the spring of 2000.

"These new products will not only provide a high level of integration, but will provide a system approach to the power management of the rapidly growing laptop and portable computing market. These new products provide the portable market engineer the ability to shorten their time to market in a growing industry," says Keith Jackson, vice president and general manager of Fairchild Semiconductor’s Analog and Mixed Signal Group. "The Fairchild and Intersil partnership allows customers to have additional innovative choices."

Intersil and Power Management
Intersil’s power management ICs are designed to handle the stringent power demands created by today’s lightning-fast microprocessors. Intersil is a leading supplier of power ICs for desktop computer market, and its HIP6000 family of controller ICs power one-third of the world’s Pentium-equipped desktop PCs. Intersil also offers the industry’s first and only complete Device Bay power solution as well as hot swap ICs, enabling maintenance and upgrade of file servers and Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAIDs) without interruption to system power.

Fairchild and Power Management
Fairchild is a major supplier of a broad range of Analog and Mixed Signal products, which target the computing, communications, consumer and industrial marketplaces. As a market leader in Power ICs, Fairchild offers a full portfolio of components and system building blocks for high and low voltage applications as well as motor control. In the desktop arena, Fairchild is a leading provider of total system solutions for the motherboard: the RC5058 and RC5060 power management chipset covers all the eight regulators (a combination of PWMs and LDOs) needed on the motherboard, including CPU, chipset and graphics power.

About Intersil Corporation
Intersil Corporation uses analog, mixed-signal, wireless communications and power technologies to develop advanced integrated circuits and power semiconductors for high-growth segments of the communications, power and space/defense markets. Intersil Corporation employs 5,800 worldwide and utilizes the rich intellectual property of more than 1,400 patents. The company’s worldwide web site is located at www.intersil.com

About Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation
Fairchild Semiconductor International (www.fairchildsemi.com) is a global company solely focused on designing, manufacturing and marketing high performance semiconductors for multiple end market uses. Fairchild’s multi-market components are used in computer, telecommunications, automotive, consumer and industrial applications. Supplying logic, analog, mixed signal, non-volatile memory and power products, Fairchild is filling the gap in the global supply of building block semiconductors. The company is headquartered in South Portland, Maine, USA, with 8,400 employees worldwide. Additional manufacturing facilities are located in California, Utah, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines, with regional sales offices throughout the world.

Special Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements other than statements of historical fact. They often, though not always, use terms such as "will have," "will provide," or "will give" or the negative of such terms. Forward-looking statements in this press release reflect current assumptions and estimates by the management of each of Intersil and Fairchild regarding future performance and economic conditions. These assumptions and estimates are subject to risks and uncertainties. Specific risks include worldwide demand and product pricing for integrated circuits; expenses and other difficulties resulting from "Year 2000" problems in computer-based systems used by Intersil and Fairchild, their suppliers or customers; general economic conditions and specific conditions in the markets addressed by Fairchild and Intersil; reductions in the U.S. and worldwide defense and space budgets; and other factors. Additional risks affecting Fairchild are described in its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Forms 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors are cautioned that the foregoing risks and uncertainties may cause actual results and future trends and events to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release.

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