Soitec and ARM Collaborate in SOI Development Program

-- Soitec (Euronext Paris: SOI) today announced that they have entered into a joint-development agreement with ARM® (LSE: ARM - News; Nasdaq: ARMHY - News) to support the future development of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) libraries for the fabless/foundry arenas. ARM will leverage its existing microprocessor intellectual property portfolio, its physical IP and its partnership with Soitec -- the world's leading innovator and provider of SOI substrates -- to provide designers with the tools, resources and standards needed to further enable and accelerate SOI adoption.

Today's announcement marks very good news for designers in the fabless/foundry communities considering the move to SOI to take advantage of its isolation, speed and power consumption benefits. In addition to its proven advantages for high-performance logic, system-on-chip (SoC), mixed- signal and lower power ICs, SOI is emerging as the most cost-effective platform for future CMOS scaling. ARM's comprehensive offerings and broad partner network already play an integral role in the production of countless silicon-based technology products. Now, through its collaboration with Soitec, ARM widens the SOI ecosystem -- making this enabling technology available to a broader range of companies.

"SOI technology will complement our existing CMOS-based physical IP by providing customers with an additional set of choices for improving performance, while conserving power, as semiconductor processes migrate to ever-smaller geometries over the next few years," said Mike Muller, CTO, ARM. "Soitec's position as the driving force behind SOI development to date is undisputed and we look forward to working with them in the future."

"We are extremely pleased to see ARM supporting the SOI ecosystem. We look forward to partnering with them to further develop the design infrastructure that will be critical to the high-performance, low-power consumption chips that SOI enables," said Andre-Jacques Auberton-Herve, Soitec president and CEO. "It is definitely another important step forward in the broad commercialization of SOI technology, which is becoming increasingly critical in the fables and foundry communities."

About the Soitec Group:

The Soitec Group is the world's leading innovator and provider of the engineered substrates that serve as the foundation for today's most advanced electronic products and nanotechnologies. Headquartered in Bernin, France, the company manufactures its comprehensive portfolio of engineered substrates, including silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and strained SOI (sSOI), using Soitec's proprietary Smart Cut(TM) technology -- the de facto industry standard. With its strong global presence, patented technology and industry-leading production capacity, Soitec is helping to drive the performance and power advantages that are key to the smaller, more power efficient, and increasingly mobile electronic products favored by consumers worldwide. Both shares and convertible bonds are listed on Euronext Paris. For more information, visit the company's website located at www.soitec.com