News & Events
Intersil’s PRISM Technology Powers Wireless LAN Products from Belkin

-- Gives PRISM access to Belkin’s extensive distribution and reseller channel

IRVINE, CA, January 15, 2002 – Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), the world’s leading developer of silicon technology for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), announced today that its PRISM® WLAN technology has been incorporated into new Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b) WLAN products from Belkin. Consumers will have significant access to Belkin’s PRISM-based products through major distributors and resellers.

“A broad spectrum of customers needs easy access to innovative new Wi-Fi products to fuel the growing demand for Wi-Fi wireless networking products,” said Larry Ciaccia, vice president and general manager of Intersil’s wireless networking business. “With an extensive distribution channel – which includes the likes of Ingram Micro and Tech Data, as well as major retail outlets such as COMPUSA and OFFICE MAX – Belkin delivers a powerful point-of-entry for industry-leading PRISM-based products.”

All Belkin Wi-Fi products – which include an 11 megabits per second (Mbps) wireless access point, wireless router, notebook card, and desktop PCI network adapter card – are distributed through national distributors and resold in over 40 consumer outlets.

“By integrating Intersil’s PRISM technology in our products, we are now capable of delivering a complete suite of low-cost, high performance wireless products to our IT and consumer customers,” said Kannyn MacRae, business unit manager at Belkin. “As the leader in 802.11 chip sets, Intersil was the logical choice for us when designing our wireless access point, PC card, and desktop PCI network adapter card.”

PRISM is the most highly integrated WLAN chip set on the market today, delivering wireless Ethernet networking with compliance to the IEEE’s 802.11b global standard. Optimized for high data rate (11 Mbps) performance, PRISM-based systems are feature-rich and provide fast, reliable performance in all types of networking environments. Advanced design and process technologies reduce power consumption, design complexity and total system cost.

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, industry-leading companies including Actiontec, Alcatel, ASUS, Casio, Cisco, Compaq, 3Com, Dell, D-Link, GemTek, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel, Legend, Linksys, Nokia, Nortel, Panasonic, Quanta, Samsung, Sharp, Siemens, SOHOware, Sony, SpectraLink, Symbol, Z-Com and Zoom have incorporated PRISM chips in WLAN 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 Belkin
Belkin is the leading manufacturer of computer cables, surge protectors and Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectivity devices, FireWire digital video editing and connectivity products, Keyboard/Video/Mouse (KVM) switches, gaming devices and accessories, LAN cabling and networking hardware, peripheral sharing devices, high-quality audio/video cables, and cellular/PCS and computer accessories. Belkin products are available through a network of major distributors, resellers and superstores. For more information, call 1-800-2BELKIN, or visit the company's website at www.belkin.com. About Intersil
Intersil is a global leader in designing innovative wireless networking and high performance analog solutions that enable wireless access to video, data and voice in homes, offices and public places. Creating advanced power management products, Intersil provides reliable solutions for file servers, portable information appliances and over half of all computer microprocessors manufactured today. With a rich high performance analog and mixed signal portfolio, Intersil brings added value in providing complete silicon, software and reference design solutions to new products that bring portable connectivity to people wherever they live, work or travel. Headquartered in Irvine, California, Intersil has offices in cities throughout the US, Europe and Asia. For more information about Intersil or to find out how to become a member of our winning team, visit the company's Web site and career page at 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 rate at which consumers adopt small handheld Internet appliances and portable computing devices in enterprises 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; 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; as well as other risk factors. Intersil’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and other Intersil filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) (which you may obtain for free at the SEC’s Web site at 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. PRISM is a registered trademark of Intersil Americas Inc.
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