Renesas Design France Established -- New Design Company in Rennes, Fra

    Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

    TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 3, 2005--Renesas Technology Corp. today announced that its new design company, Renesas Design France S.A.S in Rennes, France, has commenced operations in order to strengthen development capabilities on system platforms for 3G mobile phones. The new company is engaged in development and design of baseband LSIs for mobile phones.
    Renesas Technology expects 3G handsets will account for around 50% of the total handset market by 2010. The range of advanced functions and complexity of 3G handsets is increasing, while at the same time product life cycles are becoming shorter and product offerings are growing more diverse. As a result, the development load and time pressures on mobile phone manufacturers and software developers are becoming serious issues. In response, Renesas Technology is shifting its business model from one based on supplying devices alone to one focusing on system platforms, including basic system technology and software.
    Renesas Technology has been supplying system LSIs for mobile phones since the company's establishment. Under the SH-Mobile* product line, Renesas Technology has developed, manufactured, and sold application processors designed to connect to any baseband LSI. The ability to offer system platforms is considered essential to meeting the future demands of the market. Therefore, Renesas Technology has decided to establish the new design company to meet these needs. Renesas Technology plans to develop system platforms with mobile phones manufacturers and make full use of the new design company. A single-chip implementation of a baseband LSI and SH-Mobile with NTT Docomo, Inc., slated for completion in the first half of 2006, is one example.
    The employees of the new company have transferred from the platform division of MELCO Mobile Communications Europe S.A., a mobile phone development company of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. This step was taken to get the new enterprise up and running as quickly as possible.
    The establishment of the new subsidiary will enhance the ability of Renesas Technology to provide total solutions tailored to the needs of the market by adding baseband LSIs to the company's highly regarded line of SH-Mobile and RF products.

(Outline of Renesas Design France S.A.S) Company name: Renesas Design France S.A.S Location: Rennes, France Capital: EUR 3 million (100% from Renesas Technology) Operations: Development of baseband LSI technology for mobile phones Establishment: March 1, 2005

Notes: SH-Mobile (SuperH(TM) Mobile Application Processor): A dedicated multimedia application processor developed by Renesas Technology that connects to the baseband LSI and provides audio, video, and other functionality. SuperH is a trademark of Renesas Technology Corp.

    About Renesas Technology Corp.

    Renesas Technology Corp. designs and manufactures highly integrated semiconductor system solutions for mobile, automotive and PC/AV markets. Established on April 1, 2003 as a joint venture between Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501)(NYSE:HIT) and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TSE:6503) and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Renesas Technology is one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world and world leading microcontroller supplier globally. Besides microcontrollers, Renesas Technology offers system-on-chip devices, Smart Card ICs, mixed-signal products, flash memories, SRAMs and more. http://www.renesas.com

    * Product names, company names, or brands mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

--30--JR/sf*

CONTACT: Renesas Technology Corp. Motokazu Isozaki, +81-3-6250-5555 (Japan) isozaki.motokazu@renesas.com or Renesas Technology Europe Ltd. Jonathan Colbourne, +44-1628-585163 (Europe) jonathan.colbourne@renesas.com or Renesas Technology Hong Kong Ltd. Silkie Lau, +852-2265-6611 (Hong Kong & China) silkie.lau@renesas.com or Renesas Technology America Inc. Akiko Ishiyama, 408-382-7407 (U.S.) akiko.ishiyama@renesas.com or Renesas Technology Singapore Pte. Ltd. Honey Ong, +65-6213-0227 (Singapore) ong.honey@renesas.com or Renesas Technology Taiwan Ltd. Sarah Hu, +886-2-2715-2888 (#391) (Taiwan) sarah.hu@renesas.com

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA JAPAN FRANCE INTERNATIONAL ASIA PACIFIC EUROPE INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TELECOMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE NETWORKING HARDWARE COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS PRODUCT SOURCE: Renesas Technology Corp.

Copyright Business Wire 2005