ARC Launches New Annual Licensing Model For Multimedia Codecs

Fixed Price, All-You-Can-Use Multimedia Software Libraries Gives Customers a Strategic Edge

SAN JOSE, Calif. and ST. ALBANS, England -- June 26, 2008 -- ARC International, a leading provider of consumer intellectual property (IP) to OEM and semiconductor companies, has launched a new, innovative licensing model for its industry leading multimedia software libraries (codecs).   ARC's extensive portfolio of audio, video and imaging codecs are now packaged into annually licensable libraries.  This helps simplify the planning of chip companies, allowing them to better meet the constantly changing requirements of evolving consumer electronics devices.
 
Codec Libraries Help Maximize Success and Minimize Risk
Semiconductor companies face the challenge of creating chips that enable playback of any content, anywhere and on any device. . Chip designers need to plan for supporting a large number of existing multimedia codecs as well as new standards that reflect the changing landscape of the consumer electronics industry.  ARC's new multimedia codec libraries help chip developers target multiple markets with the same solution, thereby maximizing the success of their ARC-Based™ designs.
 
Multimedia Codec Libraries Help Minimize Cost
Using ARC's new subscription model, designers can easily subscribe to the multimedia libraries of their choice on an annual basis and be assured of access to all currently supported and future standards.  ARC's new approach also simplifies accounting and licensing by eliminating "per-codec" purchases.
 
As ARC continues to improve its software codecs and increases support for new formats, the annual subscription model will ensure that the customers have access to all the new technologies as they become available.  For example, ARC's recently released MP3 low power decoder lowers power consumption by 15 percent, and under the new subscription model, would be available to subscribers automatically.
 
Codec Libraries Help Maintain Competitive Edge
"ARC is focused on enabling consumers to capture, share and play multimedia so that they can enjoy any content, anywhere, at any time," added Bill Jackson, ARC's vice president of marketing.  "This creates an ever growing requirement for codecs that is best addressed by this new licensing model.  Our fixed-price, all-you-can-use codec library model ensures customers can have access to the current and future codecs required for their application for an annual subscription price.  This provides a compelling competitive edge for our customers ensuring that they always have the latest codec available to them."
 
ARC's Application-Optimized Codec Libraries
Each library contains the codecs that are appropriate for a specific type of application.  All codecs are fully standards compliant, certified, pre-verified and optimized to run on ARC's designs.  Together with ARC's multimedia subsystems, the codec libraries provide market ready solutions for a wide range of applications such as digital photo frames, mobile TV handsets, camcorders, Digital TVs, set top boxes, cameras, portable media players, and mobile phones.

About ARC International plc
ARC International is a world leading provider of consumer IP to OEM and semiconductor companies globally.  ARC's award-winning, vertically integrated audio and video solutions enable high quality multimedia content to be captured, shared, and played on a wide range of electronics devices.  ARC's 140+ customers collectively ship hundreds of millions of ARC-Based™ chips annually in products such as Mobile TVs, Portable Media Players, WiFi-/WiMAX-enabled computers, flash storage, digital cameras, network appliances, and medical and government systems.
ARC International maintains a worldwide presence with corporate and research and development offices in San Jose and Lake Tahoe, Calif., St. Albans, England, and St. Petersburg, Russia.  For more information visit www.ARC.com.  ARC International is listed on the London Stock Exchange as ARC International plc (LSE: ARK).