MIPS Technologies Opens Taiwan Office To Serve Greater China Region

TAIPEI, Taiwan, Feb. 5, 2002 - MIPS Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: MIPS, MIPSB), a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer and network applications, today announced the opening of a sales and marketing office in Taiwan, signaling the company's increasing commitment to the growing system-on-chip (SOC) industry in the Greater China region.

This announcement follows the recent opening of MIPS Technologies' new, larger office in Japan (see Jan. 17 announcement) and is one more step in the company's global strategy to capitalize on emerging and established markets for next-generation microprocessor designs. Japan and Asia accounted for 30 percent of semiconductor IP (intellectual property) revenue in 2000, second only to the Americas, according the Gartner/Dataquest.

In expanding its presence in the Greater China region, MIPS Technologies is forging alliances with technology firms based in Taiwan that will enable the rapid, cost-effective development of next-generation MIPS-based SOC designs for semiconductor companies and systems OEMs. They include three new design services partners-Taiwan-based Global Unichip Corp. and Synopsys Inc.'s Professional Services group and Socle Technology Corp.-and a new sales agent for the region, SinoStar Technologies Inc. Executives from MIPS Technologies and each organization participated in an opening ceremony for the new office.

"There are enormous opportunities for semiconductor and systems companies in Asia, and in the very large and fast-growing global markets they target, such as broadband networking, digital infotainment and smart cards," said Derek Meyer, vice president of worldwide field operations for MIPS Technologies. "MIPS Technologies is helping those companies stay competitive through broad regional and local alliances that lower the barriers to design of next-generation SOCs. Furthermore, our flexible business model gives customers choice and control over the design decisions when developing cost-efficient SOC solutions."

New 64-bit Hard Core Optimized for TSMC's 0.18-Micron Process
Also in attendance were executives from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest dedicated semiconductor foundry, with whom MIPS Technologies has had a broad strategic alliance for the manufacture of its 32- and 64-bit hard cores. As part of its effort to reduce the barriers to entry to fabless semiconductor companies-especially in Taiwan-MIPS Technologies today also introduced the MIPS64[tm] 5Kc[tm] hard core as part of its broad 32- and 64-bit foundry hard core offerings that are optimized for TSMC's 0.18 micron process (see companion announcement).

"As a long-standing MIPS partner and supplier of the industry's most advanced foundry services, TSMC welcomes MIPS Technologies' new local presence," said Genda Hu, vice president of marketing at TSMC. "MIPS Technologies is a valued member of TSMC's IP Alliance. With access to TSMC's extensive IP portfolio and the latest in process technology, IC designers can quickly and cost effectively apply MIPS-based processors to a full range of next-generation SoCs."

ITRI
Taiwan's government-sponsored technology development organization, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) was also represented at the opening ceremony. ITRI's Computer and Communications Research Labs (CCL), which develops system technology that integrates computer, communications and consumer electronics, works with industrial partners to drive development in broadband Internet and wireless communications, with a goal to make Taiwan the world leader in this arena.

"We welcome MIPS Technologies to Taiwan to help develop our booming SOC industry. Working with a world-class IP provider will help us ensure the Taiwan semiconductor industry maintains its leadership within the world's high-technology community," said Dr. Paul Lin, general director of CCL and vice president of ITRI.

Si-Soft Project
Also present at the opening of the new sales office were representatives of Taiwan's National Si-Soft Project, a joint effort between academia and industry for the development of silicon and software products. "MIPS Technologies is expanding its support of Taiwan's SOC industry at an excellent time, as Taiwan strives to become the number one IC design center to the world. We look forward to working closer with MIPS Technologies on exciting SOC designs," said C.Y. Chang, president of National Chiao-Tung University.

Design Services Partners
Global Unichip Corp., Synopsys Professional Services, and Socle Technology join the growing list of authorized design services companies to provide SOC and system design expertise utilizing MIPS-based technologies. All are also members of TSMC's Design Center Alliance, based on their ability to move design ideas from concept to finished wafer. Customers who have licenses for MIPS® products and choose to outsource product development through design services firms can realize significant benefits, including lower development costs and faster time to market.

"The semiconductor companies and system OEMs in Taiwan and the greater China region face enormous pressures to develop highly integrated systems, while keeping costs down to get to market quickly," said Amos Lu, the MIPS Technologies BV Taiwan Branch's newly appointed manager of the Greater China region. "Design outsourcing helps alleviate those pressures, and for customers who choose to take advantage of it, we have partnered with several leading firms that have a high degree of systems-level integration know-how."

"We welcome MIPS Technologies to the Taiwan market. The MIPS architecture has a long history and an excellent reputation, and it will amply fulfill the low-power and high-performance needs of our growing SOC industry," said K.C. Shih, chairman and CEO of Global Unichip Corp., a dedicated one-stop, full-service SOC design foundry providing total solutions. It is one of the largest design services firms in Taiwan aligned with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC). In addition to supporting MIPS Technologies customers with their designs, Global Unichip Corp. plans to develop a MIPS-based multimedia SOC platform.

Synopsys Professional Services works with leading electronics firms worldwide by delivering the technology, methodology and expertise to solve their most demanding SOC development challenges. Last year, MIPS Technologies and Synopsys Inc. partnered to enable more than 25,000 users of the industry's leading IP library, DesignWare®, to jump-start their designs with a complete, easy-to-use, MIPS-based SOC design environment. Available this quarter, it incorporates the new low-power, high-performance MIPS32[tm] 4KE[tm] family of synthesizable cores. "With the new DesignWare Star IP program, customers can build and verify their MIPS core-based SOC designs in the Synopsys design environment, giving them a quick and easy way to evaluate this robust architecture and new low-power core," said Charles Kuo, director of APAC Professional Services at Synopsys.

"Working with MIPS Technologies and the MIPS architecture is key to our vision for the development of next-generation SoC platform technology and service products. Socle Technology is developing networking and multimedia SOC platforms that can now leverage the superior performance that is only available from MIPS Technologies," said David Lyou, president of Socle. The company helps customers develop and design SOC solutions for media processing, networking and communications applications. It is noted for its world-class SOC design integration and implementation solutions, including the SOC-ImP[tm] platform and uPlatform[tm] solutions.

Taiwan Sales Agent
MIPS Technologies BV Taiwan Branch has appointed SinoStar Technologies, Inc. as a sales and support agent for the Greater China region. SinoStar has a strong track record of securing and supporting processor-based designs. Ted Chen, president of Sinostar, said, "Sinostar is very pleased to become a sales and support agent of MIPS Technologies in Greater China. Our in-house experience with MIPS-based products will ease the design challenges for local high-technology companies and bring more MIPS Technologies cores to the industry."

MIPS Technologies BV Taiwan Branch office is located at 17F/B, No. 167, Tun-Hwa N. Road, Taipei, 105 Taiwan. Phone: +886 (2) 2717-1999, extension 2271. SinoStar Technologies, the company's new sales agent in the greater China region, is located at Suite 3, 6th Floor, No. 171, Sec. 2 Datung Rd., Shijr City, Taipei, Taiwan. Phone +886 (2) 8692-6666.

About MIPS Technologies
MIPS Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer and network applications. The company drives the broadest architectural alliance that is delivering 32- and 64-bit embedded RISC solutions. The company licenses its intellectual property to semiconductor companies, ASIC developers and system OEMs. MIPS Technologies and its licensees offer the widest range of robust, scalable processors in standard, custom, semi-custom and application-specific products. The company is based in Mountain View, Calif., and can be reached at +1 (650) 567-5000 or www.mips.com.