News & Events
Panasonic Selects Intersil’s PRISM WLAN Chip Set

— Chip set enables wireless access for Panasonic’s Mobile Data Wireless Display and Toughbook 07 Mini-PC

IRVINE, CA, August 6, 2001 – Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), the world’s leading developer of silicon technology for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), today announced that Panasonic's latest portable PC incorporates the PRISM® WLAN chip set. The Mobile Data Wireless Display (MDWD) and Toughbook 07 Mini-PC are targeted for use under tough conditions, including wireless computing at construction sites, on factory floors and for on-patrol police officers.

The new Panasonic MDWD unit was recently exhibited at TechXNY (formerly PC Expo) in New York. Panasonic Computer Solutions Company has already begun taking orders for the new portable PC.

"Demand for mobile PCs that can function under rough conditions started in the U.S.," said Yoshio Ito, manager of Matsushita's PC marketing division. "Matsushita has 60 percent of the market for notebook PCs used by police forces throughout the country. Police officers on the road need large volumes of data, such as criminal records and vehicle registration numbers; personal digital assistants just can’t handle this data volume."

Panasonic’s Toughbook 07 Mini-PC works in unison with the Mobile Data Wireless Display that is suitable for mounting on police motorcycles, allowing highway patrol officers to remove and carry the MDWD to vehicles that have been stopped.

"Panasonic Computer Solutions Company’s new product is important because it brings wireless connectivity to many mobile professionals who need access to information in very demanding environments," said Larry Ciaccia, vice president and general manger of Intersil’s Wireless Networking business. "Panasonic’s selection of the Wi-Fi standard and PRISM for their innovative product is further evidence of PRISM technology to meet the needs of divergent market spaces over a wide range of applications."

About the Panasonic MDWD and Toughbook 07 Mini-PC
The MDWD features a wireless touch-screen LCD that can be used up to 300 feet away from the PC body and incorporates support for the IEEE 802.11b wireless networking standard. Its display is equipped with 8MB of SDRAM to hold up to 100 pages of information in its memory in case the wireless connection is disrupted. The display panel is also drop shock and water-resistant.

Panasonic’s Mobile Data Wireless Display weighs less than 2 pounds and is 8.75 (width) by 6.4 (height) by .5 (depth) inches in size. The transflective-type LCD panel, which features SVGA resolution of 800 by 600, is used because it is easier to view in bright sunlight. The display's battery lasts for around 5 hours with the backlight switched off and 2.5 hours with the backlight on.

The Toughbook 07 Mini-PC body weighs less than 2.5 pounds and measures 7.9" (width) by 2" (height) by 3.6" (depth). Equipped with a 300 MHz Pentium III microprocessor, a 5GB hard disk drive, and 64MB of main memory, the Toughbook 07 Mini-PC’s main PC battery lasts for about 4 hours. The unit comes equipped with a PC card slot and can connect to the Internet.

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 WLAN today," 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, Panasonic, 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 Panasonic
Panasonic is the best known brand name of Osaka, Japan-based Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC), one of the world’s leading producers of electronic products for consumer business and industrial use. Matsushita Electric, in contrast to many manufacturers, directly controls the process of design, manufacture and quality-assurance of its notebook PCs. Many key components including LCD panels, lithium-ion batteries, DVD and CD-ROM drives and board-level electronics are the products of Matsushita Electric’s own leading-edge manufacturing operations.

Panasonic Computer Solutions Company is a Unit Company of Matsushita Electric’s principal North American subsidiary, Matsushita Electric Corporation of America. The products, people and business of Panasonic Computer Solutions Company are entirely dedicated to the needs of the professional user, including Fortune 1000 business and government professionals. Panasonic also supplies mobile computing solutions to over 1,500 police departments in the United States.

Information on Panasonic’s full line of notebook PCs for the mobile professional can be obtained by calling 800-662-3537 or via the Internet at www.panasonic.com/toughbook.

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 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 and 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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