Parthus Technologies Forms Equity Alliance with ARM

DUBLIN, Ireland and LONDON, May 4 -- Parthus Technologies plc (Parthus), a developer of platform-level intellectual property (IP) for the next-generation mobile commerce, or m-Commerce market, today announces an equity alliance with ARM Holdings plc [(London: ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMHY)].

ARM has invested $2 million for an equity stake in Parthus, following an agreement between the two companies in February 2000 for Parthus (formerly SSL) to license the ARM7TDMI® core. ARM and Parthus have already established a technical partnership enabling the development of complete integrated system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for the next-generation wireless Internet market.

ARM is the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions. The ARM® architecture is the preferred choice of processor core for wireless Internet devices by the design community worldwide; its solutions range in performance from 60 MHz (54 MIPS) to 300 MHz (400+ MIPS), targeting a variety of applications including automotive, networking, mass storage, encryption and consumer multimedia. The company also provides a variety of supporting technology including development tools, application software and peripheral IP.

Parthus focuses on high-growth markets such as 3G, Bluetooth, MP3, Smartphones and GPS and its technology complements offerings from ARM and its partners by providing an application layer, which gives customers a market-ready IP solution.

The ARM/Parthus alliance has the potential to enable system developers to dramatically reduce time-to-market for next-generation wireless devices.

Brian Long, Chief Executive, Parthus Technologies plc today commented:

``ARM are the undisputed leaders in microprocessors for the mobile phone market and we are extremely pleased that they have further endorsed our business relationship by taking an equity stake in Parthus. Our mutual customers will continue to enjoy the flexibility of deploying wireless Internet application IP with the ARM processor core. Both Parthus and ARM are now well positioned to capitalize on the potential of the next-generation mobile Internet market.''

Robin Saxby, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ARM added:

``ARM's investment in Parthus further strengthens our partnership and reflects ARM's commitment to the next-generation mobile communications market. We view Parthus as leaders in application level IP for wireless Internet-enabled solutions, and the combination of Parthus and ARM technology will provide developers with high-performance products at a significantly reduced time-to-market.''

About ARM Holdings plc

ARM, a leading intellectual property (IP) provider, licenses high-performance, low-cost, power-efficient RISC processors, peripherals, and system-chip designs to leading international electronics companies. ARM also provides comprehensive support required in developing a complete system. ARM's microprocessor cores are rapidly becoming the volume RISC standard in such markets as portable communications, handheld computing, multimedia digital consumer and embedded solutions. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com .

About Parthus Technologies plc

Formed in 1993, Parthus Technologies (formerly SSL) is over 300 professionals dedicated to the development. Parthus develops semiconductor intellectual property targeting the emerging mobile commerce -- or m-Commerce -- market, and licenses this technology to semiconductor and electronic product manufacturers.

ARM and ARM7TDMI are registered trademarks of ARM Limited.

NOTE CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward-looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements about future outsourcing, wafer capacity, technologies, business relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy; acceptance and demand for products; and technological and development risks.