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| RF MICRO DEVICES AND HITACHI ANNOUNCE
CROSS SUPPLIER AGREEMENT FOR WAFER AND MODULE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING |
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| FOR RELEASE: November 27, 2001 Strategic Highlights
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GREENSBORO, NC and TOKYO, JAPAN — RF Micro Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq: RFMD) and Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT) today announced they have signed a cross supplier agreement for GaAs HBT wafer and module design and manufacturing. The agreement is effective immediately. It is anticipated that under the agreement Hitachi will design and assemble modules for RFMD’s module products, while RFMD will design and supply GaAs HBT semiconductor wafers for Hitachi’s module products. Both companies will maintain full and independent control of their respective product planning, product development, manufacturing, marketing and sales activities. Under the agreement, both parties plan to utilize the other’s world-class core competencies to improve the value and functionality of their respective products. By focusing on core competencies, both parties expect to improve their respective capabilities and minimize overall costs. Jerry Neal, executive vice president of sales, marketing and strategic development of RFMD, said, “We expect this collaboration will increase capacity utilization in our fabs, reduce costs and improve our overall competitiveness. We’re eager to tap into Hitachi’s module design and assembly capabilities while providing them immediate fab capacity.” Neal continued, “We’ve already received initial production orders from Hitachi for GaAs HBT JCDMA power amplifier die, which we designed for a module developed by Hitachi for the Japanese market. We expect shipments to commence in this quarter, with volumes forecast to ramp into calendar year 2002.” “Working together, RFMD and Hitachi will maximize our abilities to remain at the forefront of the rapidly advancing technologies needed to meet future customer demands,” said Kunio Kobayashi, Director, Micro Module Business Unit, Hitachi, Ltd. Semiconductor & Integrated Circuits. RF Micro Devices, Inc., an ISO 9001-certified manufacturer, designs, develops, manufactures and markets proprietary radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) primarily for wireless communications products and applications such as cellular and PCS phones, base stations, wireless LANs, and cable television modems. The Company offers a broad array of products — including amplifiers, mixers, modulators/demodulators, and single-chip receivers, transmitters and transceivers — representing a substantial majority of the RFICs required in wireless subscriber equipment. The Company's strategy is to focus on wireless markets by offering a broad range of standard and custom-designed RFICs in order to position itself as a “one-stop” solution for its customers' RFIC needs. RF Micro Devices, Inc. is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol RFMD. For more information about RFMD, please visit our website at www.rfmd.com. Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 2000 (ended March 31, 2001) consolidated sales of 8,417 billion yen ($67.9 billion*). The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://global.hitachi.com. * At an exchange rate of 124 yen to the dollar. This press release contains forward-looking statements that relate to RF Micro Devices’ plans, objectives, estimates and goals. Words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” and “estimates,” and variations of these words and similar expressions, identify these forward-looking statements. RF Micro Devices' business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including variability in quarterly operating results, the rate of growth and development of wireless markets, risks associated with the operation of wafer fabrication facilities, its ability to manage rapid growth and to attract and retain skilled personnel, variability in production yields, raw material availability, manufacturing capacity constraints, dependence on a limited number of customers and dependence on third parties. These and other risks and uncertainties, which are described in more detail in RF Micro Devices’ most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual results and developments to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any of these forward-looking statements. |
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WRITTEN BY Corporate Communications Division |
