Vanguard - News 5/26/98


Date: 05/26/98 Spokesman: Robert Hsieh News Number: 97008	Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. Licenses Direct Rambus Technology--Leading Taiwan DRAM company to sample initial devices in Q3 1999
Hsinchu, Taiwan and Mountain View, Calif. -- May 25, 1998 Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. (VIS) and Rambus Inc. today announced that VIS has taken a license for the Direct RambusTM high-bandwith memory-interface technology. VIS will incorporate the interface into forthcoming 128-Mbit dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), with initial devices expected to sample in the third quarter of 1999 and volume production planned for the fourth quarter. "Direct Rambus DRAMs will be a strategic part of our product line," said Dr. C.Y. Lu, president of VIS. "VIS is committed to meeting the PC industry's need for higher memory bandwidth and we intend to be an important supplier to PC companies." "VIS is a significant Direct RDRAM licensee," said Steve Cullen, senior DRAM analyst at InStat. "This company has quickly made strong market gains among worldwide DRAM suppliers and is the fastest-growing of all the Taiwan DRAM companies. With strong design, technology and manufacturing capabilities and favorable production economics, VIS could play an important role in worldwide Direct RDRAM supply and economics by the year 2000." Unranked in 1996, Vanguard debuted as the #15 DRAM supplier in InStat's worldwide rankings for 1997. VIS is the first Taiwan DRAM company and the 15th DRAM company worldwide to announce a Direct RDRAM license. "As the technology leader among Taiwan DRAM companies, VIS will be a key Rambus partner as we continue to move toward volume production of Direct RDRAMs," said Allen Roberts, vice president and general manager of Rambus Inc.'s Memory and Technology Division. With the addition of Vanguard, Direct RDRAMTM licensees supply more than 96% of the worldwide DRAM market, according to InStat. Planned applications for Direct Rambus technology include computer system memory, multimedia and graphics memory, communications system memory, and consumer electronics memory. To date, 15 DRAM manufacturers are committed to deliver Direct RDRAM devices; more than 10 companies are developing Direct Rambus logic chips; Intel Corp. has announced plans to use the technology in forthcoming PC main memory chipsets; and more than 20 companies representing the leaders in system-memory implementation products – including memory modules, connectors, clock chips and test systems -- have announced their intention to support the technology. Direct Rambus technology will enable the DRAM industry's highest level of performance to date -- 1.6 gigabytes per second of peak bandwidth from a single device -- and will span multiple generations of DRAM devices (through 1-gigabit densities). Developed in conjunction with Intel Corp. and in cooperation with DRAM and other semiconductor partners, the Direct Rambus interface achieves its unprecedented performance through electrical and architectural extensions to currently available Rambus technology. Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation (VIS), with headquarters in the Science-Based Industrial Park, Hsinchu, Taiwan, designs, develops, manufactures, markets and sells DRAM and other semiconductor devices. VIS has its own in-house design expertise, supplemented by a strong US design subsidiary in San Jose, California. VIS sells its products through its US sales office, as well as a worldwide network of distributors and representatives. More information is available at http://www.vis.com.tw. Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS), based in Mountain View, Calif., develops and licenses high-speed chip-to-chip communications technology that enables semiconductor memory devices to keep pace with faster generations of processors and controllers. Providers of Rambus-based integrated circuits include the world's leading DRAM, ASIC and PC controller manufacturers. Currently, eight of the world's top 10 semiconductor companies license Rambus technology and seven of the world's top PC makers ship systems using the technology. More information on Rambus Inc. and its high-bandwidth interface technology is available at http://www.rambus.com.