1997-08-22 , S/IC-717/451

Philips Semiconductors, the world's leading supplier of the industry-standard  80C51 microcontroller, and Macronix, a leading manufacturer of high-performance non- volatile memory products, today issued a joint announcement that the two companies will work together to develop and manufacture a variety of embedded flash products, including Philips' XA family of microcontrollers (MCUs). Embedded flash MCUs, built with re-programmable memory, give designers the FLEXibility to program many times and in-circuit, eliminating external programming. Additionally, by enabling multiple time programming, flash allows designers to upgrade their software, enhance products and fix bugs in-circuit, thus significantly reducing costs and time to market.

As part of the agreement, Philips licenses Macronix to produce XA microcontrollers and jointly develop flash-based XA MCUs. Philips' XA is a high-performance multi- tasking 16-bit embedded controller and an extension of the widely used 80C51 family.

"We see the partnership with Macronix as a win-win arrangement, where we complement its flash design and manufacturing expertise with Philips' worldwide leadership position in microcontrollers," said Dr Cees Jan Koomen, chairman of Philips Semiconductors, North America.

This agreement provides customers with a range of embedded flash options, allowing them to support various applications that require high-performance microcontrollers.

"There is an emerging worldwide demand for programmable processors with embedded flash memory," said Miin Wu, president, Macronix International Corporation, Ltd. "Macronix's non-volatile memory expertise and Philips' leadership in microcontrollers makes a powerful combination."

Philips Semiconductors is the world's leading supplier of the most popular 8-bit architecture, the 80C51, offering more than 100 derivatives. In-Stat, an independent semiconductor research firm, reported Philips' 80C51 sales of US$ 558 million in 1996, a 20% increase on 1995, and a 44% share of the 80C51 8-bit microcontroller market. Philips has recently extended this successful architecture into 16-bit performance with its XA. Now customers can preserve their software, development tools and technology investment in the 80C51 while capitalising on the 16-bit performance requirements in a market expected to double in the next two years.

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Philips Electronics NV, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the ninth largest semiconductor supplier in the world and the third largest supplier of discretes in the world. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by systems labs.

Macronix International Corporation, Ltd, a leader in non-volatile memory technology, designs, manufactures and markets Flash, EPROM, Mask ROM and other logic products for the communications, consumer and computer markets. MXIC is listed on the Taipei and NASDAQ stock exchanges. For more information on the complete family of Macronix products, call or write Macronix America, Inc, 1338 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95131, USA, tel +1 (800) 432-1621; fax +1 (408) 451-0876;  www.macronix.com