News and Events
Intersil and PowerSmart Co-Developing Battery Management Solutions for Mobile Appliances

— PRISM/home™ to deliver complete silicon solutions for wireless broadband in the home

IRVINE, CA, October 23, 2000 — Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), the world’s leading developer of silicon technology for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), today unveiled a new brand of products that will deliver low-cost, high performance wireless networking solutions for the emerging home networking market.

PRISM/home, Intersil’s new product line, will soon deliver the world’s first low-cost IEEE 802.11b chip set designed specifically to enable the home networking market. This new product is based on a revolutionary new architecture that lowers the overall cost to build solutions for the home. Leveraging Intersil’s award-winning PRISM^® WLAN technology, the new chip set will be offered with a full suite of consumer-focused software solutions and is the first in a series of products developed specifically for the PRISM/home product line. Sample chips will begin shipping late this quarter and Intersil is working with leading OEM manufacturers to develop wireless-enabled consumer products based on these offerings.

"In the home of the future, people will have access to entertainment, information, voice and video connectivity wherever they are in the home — and Intersil’s PRISM/home products will make this vision a reality by offering a family of products specifically tailored for these applications, " said Larry Ciaccia, vice president and general manager of PRISM Wireless Products at Intersil. "The adoption of high-speed wireless networking solutions for the home has already begun based on the growing worldwide availability of broadband access such as DSL, cable modems and fixed wireless. "

Consumers are expected to increase their access to the Internet on networked PCs and information appliances through a residential gateway product, typically a cable modem, set-top box or DSL modem that can distribute broadband content throughout the home. PRISM wireless-enabled gateways and networks are attractive because they allow users to take full advantage of broadband data rates, eliminate the costs and hassles of network wiring installation and give people freedom to work and play anywhere in the home.

Furthermore, wireless LANs carrying the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance’s "Wi-Fi" seal of compatibility for IEEE 802.11b products ensure work/home interoperability for those who use the same laptop at work and at home. As many as 2 million laptops in use today are equipped with PRISM-based WLAN cards. In addition, new devices including WLAN-enabled phones, Web pads, MP3 players, cameras and other Internet appliances are expected to incorporate wireless connectivity based on PRISM/home technology.

Intersil’s revolutionary new chip set will be supported by a full set of software and firmware tools and products. These tools and solutions are provided to speed customer time to market. PRISM/home products include AirLock™ Security Software, an easy to use software product that enhances the protection of a wireless LAN system; and Sygate, an ease of use software suite.

Intersil customers, including Alcatel, 3Com, Dell, Nokia, Siemens, Zoom, GemTek, and Z-Com, have announced PRISM-based solutions aimed at consumers. At the recent AT&T "Innovation Forum, " PRISM products demonstrated the technology’s ability to support Internet browsing and four simultaneous toll-quality voice calls.

Adoption of PRISM WLAN Technology
Since introducing the PRISM WLAN chip set in 1996, over fifty companies have incorporated PRISM chips in more than 100 product designs. In a May 2000 report, the Cahners In-Stat Group called Intersil "the dominant force in the WLAN chip set marketplace with their PRISM chip sets holding the majority of market share. " PRISM technology is designed to comply with the IEEE’s 802.11 global standard, and Intersil is a founding sponsor of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA), whose Wi-Fi™ brand is a mark of compatibility for 802.11 based systems. PRISM chips are used in WLAN systems from industry-leading companies including Alcatel, Nokia, Siemens, Cisco, Compaq, 3Com, Dell, Nortel, Samsung, SpectraLink, Symbol, and Zoom.

Irvine, Calif.-based Intersil uses its semiconductor expertise to enable highly integrated voice, data and video communications. Intersil's integrated communications portfolio includes PRISM® Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) chip sets that enable mobile connectivity products for the home and office; analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for broadband access to wireless and wired Wide Area Networks (WANs); and power management products that enable 24x7 reliability in network servers, next generation PCs and information appliances. For more information about Intersil, visit the company's Internet homepage at www.intersil.com.

This press release contains statements relating to the WLAN and home networking markets that are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based upon management's current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, and projections about our business and our industry. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will" and variations of these words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward looking statements. Furthermore, any forward looking statements and projections made by others in this press release are not adopted by Intersil Holding Corporation ("Intersil") and Intersil is not responsible for the forward looking statements and projections of others. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in the forward looking statements as a result of various risk factors. Important risk factors that may cause such material differences for Intersil in connection with the WLAN and home networking markets include, but are not limited to, the rate at which consumer adopt Intersil’s PRISM/home products, the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Intersil’s wireless technologies and products; our ability to obtain FCC approval and WECA certification on next generation wireless products, the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders; the loss of a key customer; the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products; silicon wafer pricing and the availability of foundry and assembly capacity and raw materials; intellectual property disputes; as well as other risk factors detailed from time to time in Intersil's filings with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission ("SEC") ") which you may obtain for free at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this press release and Intersil undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements.

This press release contains information that constitute forward looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934". Such forward looking statements are based upon management’s current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, and projections about our business and industry. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will" and variations of these words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward looking statements. These forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward looking statements as a result of various risk factors. Important risk factors that may cause such material differences for Intersil in connection with Intersil Holding Corporation’s ("Intersil’s") power management products include, but are not limited to, the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Intersil’s current, and next-generation power management products and technology; the adoption of a particular cellular standard; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders; the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products; silicon wafer pricing and the availability of foundry and assembly capacity and raw materials; intellectual property disputes; as well as other risk factors detailed from time to time in Intersil’s filings with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. These forward looking statements are made only as of the date of this press release and Intersil undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward looking statements.

PRISM is a registered trademark and AirLock and PRISM/home are trademarks of Intersil Corporation.

"Wi-Fi" is a trademark of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance.

All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.