SST and STARCHIP Announce Licensing and Design Partnership

StarChip will use its expertise in designing high-endurance, low-power, area-efficient and robust NVM macros to support SST’s partners.

Meyreuil, February 10th, 2011- StarChip® today announced a licensing and design partnership agreement with Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. (SST), a wholly owned subsidiary of Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP). This agreement is for the purpose of developing, marketing, selling and distributing products based on SST’s SuperFlash® non-volatile-memory (NVM) technologies. In addition, StarChip will use its expertise in designing high-endurance, low-power, area-efficient and robust NVM macros to support SST’s partners.

StarChip already introduced its SIM devices with SST’s SuperFlash technology, including StarChip devices with Flash-based code and data storage. The normal Flash endurance has been enhanced with StarChip’s E3 (ECUBE) patented mechanisms. The E3 (ECUBE) (Enhanced Endurance Engine) delivers a powerful combination of flexibility and best-in-class endurance, offering up to 2 Billion cycles for SIM and M2M applications.

Commenting on the Agreement, Chris Brown (Manager of IP & Technology Licensing for Europe) said: “we are seeing a high demand for flash nvm macro design work at present and this partnership should allow us to service a greater level of concurrent activities. Starchip have proven their nvm design capabilities to us and will be a great partner”

Yves Fusella, CTO of StarChip, said: “We were really impressed by the native performances and the maturity of the SST ESF technologies. The very close & successful collaboration with SST engineers helped us to improve the native endurance and address new applications like M2M. We are very enthusiastic about partnering with SST on this Design Center activity”

For more information, contact StarChip Sales at sales[at]starchip-ic[dot]com.

About Silicon Storage Technology, Inc.

Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. (SST) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP). Leveraging its proprietary, patented SuperFlash technology, SST is a leading licensor of non-volatile-memory solutions that include various densities of high-functionality Flash memory. SST also offers its SuperFlash technology for embedded applications through its broad network of world-class manufacturing partners and technology licensees.

For more information about SST’s comprehensive list of product offerings, please call 1-888/SST-CHIP. Information can also be requested via email to literature[at]sst[dot]com or through SST’s Web site at www.sst.com.

About StarChip

StarChip is a dynamic semiconductor company that enables customers to directly benefit from its unique, optimized value-chain system. We design and qualify products for mass production, then license our solutions for purchase directly by our customers, through qualified foundries and test houses.

Find out more about StarChip and SIM & M2M products by visiting the links below:

• For information about StarChip: www.starchip-ic.com
• See StarChip’s complete SIM & M2M portfolio: www.starchip-ic.com/Products    
• Download StarChip SIM & M2M datasheets: www.starchip-ic.com/Download