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Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas Teams with TSMC for Volume Manufacturing of System-on-Chip and Microcontroller Designs

Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas Teams with TSMC
for Volume Manufacturing of System-on-Chip and Microcontroller Designs

CAMAS, Wash., June 11, 2001 – Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas (SMA), a U.S.-based division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, announced today that it has formed a relationship with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NYSE: TSM) for volume production of SMA’s latest microcontroller (MCU) and System-on-Chip (SoC) designs.

These advanced products are being designed by engineers at SMA’s new North American Design Center based in Camas, Wash., and will be manufactured in production volumes using TSMC’s 0.35 and 0.25 micron CMOS logic and EmbFlashtm processes. Future SMA products will be targeted towards TSMC’s production-proven 0.18 micron logic and EmbFlashtm processes, which are slated for production in the 3Q01 timeframe.

"We selected TSMC because it is also a leader in embedded Flash technology and can provide the additional production capacity that we are looking for," said Terry Thomas, SMA’s director of marketing for microcontroller and System-on-Chip products/designs. "Embedded flash provides our customers with a powerful tool for system-on-chip designs because it is production-proven and shortens their time to market."

"TSMC’s leading edge technology is ideally suited to Sharp Microelectronics’ market focus – Internet-enabled appliances, home and office automation, and industrial applications," said Sam Chu, director of TSMC’s advanced technology product marketing group. "By combining SMA's engineering and applications expertise with TSMC’s advanced SoC process knowledge, we can help SMA deliver highly integrated SoCs for fast-time-to-volume."

The decision to operate a design center in North America was a notable departure for Sharp, which previously designed all products in Japan. The Camas, Washington-based team of engineers is now responsible for the design of all new 8-, 16-, and 32-bit MCU / SoC products based on market- and customer-driven requirements.

SMA has completed licensing agreements for the ARM 7TDMI-S, ARM 720T and

ARM 922T, as well as the 8051 E-Warp to provide the foundation for MCU / SOC development.

About TSMC

TSMC is the world's largest dedicated semiconductor foundry, providing the industry’s leading process technology, library and IP options and other leading-edge foundry services. TSMC operates two six-inch wafer fabs and nine eight-inch wafer fabs in three countries, including its two joint ventures fabs – Vanguard and SSMC – and its North American subsidiary, WaferTech. In 2000, TSMC produced the foundry industry's first 300mm customer wafers and began constructing two dedicated 300mm fabs. TSMC's corporate headquarters are in Hsin-Chu, Taiwan. More information about TSMC is available through the World Wide Web at http://www.tsmc.com.

About Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas

Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas (SMA), Camas, Washington, is a U.S.-based company and a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation which is a subsidiary of Sharp Corporation, Osaka, Japan. Sharp is a worldwide developer of core digital technologies that are playing an integral role in shaping the next generation of electronic products for consumer and business needs. SMA offers breakthrough memory, LCD, opto, CCD, RF/IR, microcomputer and system-on-chip components, along with packaging and integration skills that help design engineers throughout North and South America bring their ambitious ideas to market. SMA is dedicated to improving people’s lives through the use of advanced technology and a commitment to innovation, quality, value and design. More information about SMA is available through the World Wide Web at http://www.sharpsma.com.

Note: all trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective companies. ARM7TDMI™ ARM 7TDMI-S, ARM 720T, ARM 922T are trademarks of Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) Ltd. 8051 is a trademark of Intel. M8051 E-Warp is a trademark of Mentor Graphics.