News & Events
Intersil Corporation Unveils Growth Strategy and New Product Line Structure

LONDON, UK, Sept. 20, 1999 – In one of his first major actions since being named chief executive officer, Greg Williams said today that Intersil Corp. is reorganizing its product line structure to spur growth by deploying resources more efficiently and increasing focus on customer service. Williams, who was named CEO of the former Harris Semiconductor last month, said the action was part of his plan to complete a company makeover for the 21st century that will position Intersil to take better advantage of growth opportunities in its core businesses.

"Intersil is in great shape and poised for growth," Williams said. "We’ve made over $450M in capital expenditures since 1996 and we’ve restructured our business, taking out $40M in costs. We’re confident these changes, along with a product portfolio reduction of more than 50 percent, make us a swifter, more agile. In addition, we’re adding new products to our portfolio to maintain technology leadership in our chosen markets."

Williams, who also serves as Intersil’s president, has aligned operations around four business units: Analog and Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuits; PRISM Wireless Products; Discrete Power; and Space and Defense Products.

"Intersil’s new business model creates better alignment of design and manufacturing resources with customer needs," Williams said. "Each of these four business units faces unique customer and market challenges that require dedicated design and manufacturing resources. The creation of these product lines allows us to continue to address very specific high-growth segments of the power, communications, and space and defense markets, but with the speed, agility and specialization that each market demands."

Intersil’s largest business, Analog and Mixed-Signal IC Products, leverages the company’s analog design, engineering and manufacturing resources to produce ICs for high-speed signal processing, telecom subscriber line interface and power management. The company ranks among the top three in worldwide sales in each of its chosen markets, which have compounded annual growth rates of 8 to 16 percent a year, according to industry surveys.

"This growing and profitable business is one of the leading analog entities in the marketplace," Williams said. "Fueled by growth in communications and the Internet, our analog and mixed-signal business will continue to work closely with customers to provide advanced ICs for high-speed data conversion, for the emerging voice over Internet protocol market niche and power management for next generation PCs, laptops and file servers."

Intersil has also created a separate business unit around its wireless networking technology – PRISM Wireless Products. This product line, which is Intersil’s fastest-growing business, is primarily focused on the development of chips and chip sets for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). Intersil’s leading-edge PRISM technology has been selected by more than 40 of the world’s leading telecom, networking and computer companies, including such industry titans as Nokia, 3Com Corp., Nortel Networks, Samsung Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp.

"As Harris Semiconductor, we forged a leadership position in the wireless data market, and as Intersil Corp., we will continue to promote widespread adoption of wireless networking products by providing high performance, low-cost Internet-enabling silicon," Williams said.

Intersil is ranked first in silicon technology for the wireless data market. Williams said that one of his top goals is to leverage Intersil’s worldwide leadership in wireless data into growth opportunities in several categories, including wireless consumer appliances. "High data rate pipelines such as DSL, cable and satellite are at the gateway of small offices and residences worldwide. Intersil’s technology will put wireless access in the hands of consumers, distributing the pipeline in home via our 802.11-compliant, 11 megabit per second PRISM II chip set."

Intersil also has created a separate business unit for the development of discrete power products. This product line, which includes dedicated manufacturing at the world’s first 8-inch power discrete fabrication facility in Mountaintop, Pa., develops MOSFETs and IGBTs for industrial, automotive, computing, communications, and space/defense uses. Intersil ranks in the top 10 worldwide in MOSFETs and IGBTs, which have compound annual growth rates of 12 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

"Unlike many of our competitors who are using legacy 4-inch wafer fabs and have spent very little on research and development, Intersil has made huge investments in highly-automated 6- and 8-inch fabs dedicated to producing highly reliable, application-capable MOSFETs and IGBTs," says Williams. He also cites significant investment in discrete power applications engineering to move design resources closer to target customers.

Intersil also ranks No. 1 in the world in radiation-hardened integrated circuits and discrete semiconductors. Although this category has a compounded annual growth rate of 6 percent a year, Williams is optimistic about its future.

"The capabilities of our space and defense business in both radiation-hardened and radiation-tolerant ICs and discretes position us well for continued leadership in the commercial and military space markets,’’ he said.

About Intersil Corporation
Intersil Corporation uses analog, mixed-signal, power and radiation-hardening technologies to develop advanced integrated circuits and discrete 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 heritage from Harris, GE Solid State and RCA. The company’s worldwide web site is located at http://www.intersil.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current assumptions and estimates of future performance and economic conditions. Specific risks include worldwide demand and product pricing for integrated circuits, and reductions in the U.S. and worldwide defense and space budgets. In addition, Intersil cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future trends and events to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements.