News & Events
Intersil Wins More than Half of AMD Athlon™ Motherboard Designs

— Power Management chip set ensures power to advanced microprocessor designs

IRVINE, Calif., July 24, 2000 — Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL), a leader in Power Management solutions for desktop PCs, file servers and portable information appliances, has revealed that its multiphase family of products are the Power Management devices of choice among Advanced Micro Device (AMD) motherboard manufacturers. According to its shipment records, Intersil’s flexible, modular chipsets can be found accompanying more than half of the AMD microprocessor-based central processing units (CPUs) currently manufactured.

At present, AMD Athlon CPUs are the only processors that require the high current capabilities of Intersil’s multiphase family. Intersil’s multiphase Power Management device shipments to AMD motherboard manufacturers during the previous two quarters are equivalent to more than half of the total Athlon CPUs shipped by AMD during the same period. Intersil multiphase controllers have also recently been included in AMD’s reference designs, establishing Intersil’s multiphase solution as a power solution of choice for Athlon processors.

"AMD Athlon processors continue to power next-generation computing platforms," said Rick Furtney, vice president and general manager of Intersil’s Power Management business. "Major computer manufacturers will soon be introducing Athlon processor-systems that deliver performance for next-generation applications. The fact that more than half of all AMD Athlon-based computer designs incorporate Intersil multiphase Power Management devices is a testament to the performance value of these products."

Surveys conducted by Intersil and a distributor at a recent Computex tradeshow in Taipei showed that close to 80 percent of new motherboards displayed included Intersil multiphase devices.

It is believed that Intersil is the first solution provider in the industry to deliver Power Management integrated circuits (ICs) that meet the static reference tolerance requirements of major microprocessor manufacturers. This allows manufacturers to deliver products containing fewer capacitors, and therefore lower CPU manufacturing costs.

Intersil’s multiphase products deliver high-performance core power to the microprocessor through patented control technology. Multiphase power conversion is a marked departure from earlier single-phase converter configurations that were previously used to satisfy the increasing current demands of modern microprocessors. By distributing the power and load current, multiphase converters require smaller and lower-cost DC/DC converters with fewer input and output capacitors.

According to published reports, AMD will manufacture approximately 3.6 million processors in the third quarter and 7.2 million in the fourth quarter of this year. The company produced nearly two million processors in the second quarter.

About Multiphase Converters
The Intersil multiphase controllers, when coupled with an Intersil gate driver, provide the total core-voltage system for advanced microprocessors. These devices deliver the industry’s best static tolerance and digital to analog conversion (DAC) accuracy, ensuring consistent and precise microprocessor performance. Tighter static regulation provides microprocessor designers the option of less output capacitance in meeting the total regulation tolerance budget. Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) designers complying with VRM 9.0 standards and designers of low voltage or switching DC/DC converters for PCs now have a highly efficient design option.

About Intersil
Irvine, California-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, mixed-signal and digital 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.

PRISM is a registered trademark of Intersil Corporation.
Athlon is a trademark of Advanced Micro Device.

This press release contains information relating to certain projections and business trends concerning Intersil’s multiphase power management products 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 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 and Intersil is not responsible for the forward looking statements and projections of others. 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 the multiphase power management market 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 multiphase power management devices; 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. 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.