News & Events
Intersil’s PRISM 2.5 Mini-PCI WLAN Solution Powers New IBM ThinkPad T23 Series Notebook Computers

— ThinkPad T23 Series to deliver off-the-shelf Wi-Fi wireless connectivity for mobile PC users

IRVINE, CA, August 1, 2001 — Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL), the world’s leading developer of silicon technology for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) today announced that IBM^® (NYSE: IBM) is utilizing Intersil’s PRISM^® 2.5 Mini-PCI to deliver embedded Wi-Fi (802.11b) wireless connectivity in its new ThinkPad^® T23 Series notebook computers.

The ThinkPad T23 Series laptops are lightweight, high-performance mobile computers powered by a mobile Intel^® Pentium^® III processor. The ThinkPad is also optimized for wireless networking with a built-in antenna and an embedded Mini-PCI wireless networking card that delivers remote broadband connectivity to the Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) standard. The ThinkPad’s flexible communications bay can accommodate dial-up modem, 10/100 ethernet and Wi-Fi wireless LAN, including the new combination modem and wireless LAN combo Mini-PCI card. Using the new ThinkPads, business travelers can achieve fast connections to the Internet and their company network remotely from public locations such as hotels, airports and convention centers, serviced by third party providers.

"We’re very pleased that IBM chose our PRISM 2.5 solution for their exciting new ThinkPad notebooks. The significant board space reduction achieved by the PRISM 2.5 chip set enabled IBM to incorporate dual-mode networking capabilities – 802.11b and V.90 modem – on the ThinkPad T23 computers." said Larry Ciaccia, vice president and general manager of Intersil’s Wireless Networking Business. "As notebook Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) accelerate their move to embedded wireless LAN designs, Intersil’s highly-integrated PRISM 2.5 Mini-PCI card is becoming the silicon design of choice due to its high performance, low cost and low power consumption."

The PRISM 2.5 solution features the world’s first single-chip Baseband Processor (BBP) and Medium Access Controller (MAC) that integrates digital functions normally done by two ICs. The integrated BBP/MAC includes a PCMCIA and USB interface that will allow OEMs to easily add a USB interface into next-generation Wi-Fi wireless networking products for the home and office. A BBP/MAC with Mini-PCI interface for manufacturing electronic devices requiring embedded applications is also available.

"Intersil’s PRISM 2.5 wireless networking chip set is housed on a small form factor Mini-PCI card that allows IBM to design "embedded" wireless LAN capability directly into the internal design of the ThinkPad 23," said Peter Hortensius, vice president of development, IBM Personal Computing Devices. "This provides off-the-shelf wireless capability for our customers and eliminates the need for external add-in cards."

The Global Wireless Market Embraces PRISM WLAN Technology
"Intersil is the number one manufacturer of wireless LAN chipsets and has been a driving force behind the success of WLANs," said a May 2001 WLAN report from Cahners In-Stat Group. Since introducing the PRISM WLAN chip set in 1996, over 50 of the industry-leading companies including Actiontec, Alcatel, Cisco, Compaq, 3Com, Dell, D-Link, IBM, Linksys, Nokia, Nortel, Samsung, Scientific-Atlanta, Siemens, SOHOware, Sony, SpectraLink, Symbol and Zoom have incorporated PRISM chips in more than 100 product designs. 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.

About Intersil
Intersil is a leading communications company and supplier of semiconductors, reference designs and software for wireless networking and analog markets. Intersil applies analog, mixed-signal and radio frequency (RF) expertise to products that enable wireless and voice access to broadband media; provide reliable power management in all PCs, file servers and portable information appliances; and perform analog and digital signal conversion for cellular and Internet infrastructure. For more information about Intersil, visit the company's Internet homepage at http://www.intersil.com.

This press release contains information relating to certain projections and business trends concerning the WLAN market that are 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. Furthermore, any forward-looking statements and projections made by others in this press release are not adopted by Intersil Corporation ("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 WLAN market include, but are not limited to: the recent economic slowdown in the technology sector and the semiconductor industry; the rate at which consumers adopt small handheld Internet appliances and portable computing devices in enterprise and in homes; the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Intersil’s wireless technologies and products, including our embedded LAN applications; 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 and quality of foundry and assembly capacity and raw materials; adoption of electronic standards by IEEE in the WLAN market; the effectiveness of Intersil’s expense and product cost control and reduction efforts; intellectual property disputes, customer indemnification claims, and other litigation risks; Intersil’s ability to develop, market, and transition to volume production new products and technologies in a timely manner; risks inherent in acquisitions and divestitures, such as the anticipated benefits not being realized, integration issues, unanticipated costs, changing relationships with customers and suppliers, accounting treatment and charges; as well as other risk factors. Intersil’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, recent and forthcoming Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other Intersil filings with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission ("SEC") (which you may obtain for free at the SEC’s Web site www.sec.gov ) discuss some of the important risk factors that may affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. 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.

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PRISM is a registered trademark of Intersil Americas Inc.

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