ARM Forms Technology Access Program to Meet Growing Demand for ARM-Based Designs.

CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 1998--

Cadence becomes ARM's first ATAP design partner

ARM (LSE: ARM and NASDAQ: ARMHY) today announced the formation of the ARM Technology Access Program(TM) (ATAP(TM)). The program was established to satisfy the growing demand for ARM-based system-on-chip (SoC) designs by OEMs, and to serve ARM semiconductor partners that will need additional design resources to handle thost design wins relative to the competition in l designs created through an ATAP design partner must be fabricated by one of ARM's licensed semiconductor partners allowing additional flexibility for the OEM.

ARM's first ATAP design partner is the Cadence SoC Design Centre basednually, we saw the need to expand the design renumber of ARM design wins while extending our partnership approach into design services companies."

The ARM Technology Access Program is an extension and formalization of ARM's current relationships with external design service compgn Center." This includes a design flow audit, tdemonstrate its own unique skills in specific technology domains as well as market segment expertise. The ATAt of these Design Centers to become ARM-approved is the Cadence SoC Design Centre in Livingston, Scotland. Following initial training and qualification, the Cadence Livingston Design Centre is already near tapeout of a complex telecommunications design incorporating two ARM7(TM) cores.

Discussions are underway with several potential design partners in all geographies and additional announcements are expected in the coming months. Considerable interest has been shown in the program by third-party design houses that wish to take advantage of the tremendous growth and demand for ARM-based designs.

About ARM

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, hand-held computing, multi-media and embedded solutions. ARM serves its growing partnership base from offices in Cambridge and Maidenhead, UK; Los Gatos, California; Austin, Texas; Seattle, Washington; Westborough, MA, USA; Paris, France; Munich, Germany; Tokyo, Japan and Seoul, Korea. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com.

Editor's Notes:

ARM, Thumb, StrongARM and ARM Powered are registered trademarks of ARM Limited. AMBA, ARM7, ARM Technology Access Program and ATAP are trademarks of ARM Limited. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders. "ARM" is used to represent ARM Holdings plc (LSE: ARM and NASDAQ: ARMHY); its operating company ARM Limited; and the regional subsidiaries ARM, INC.; ARM KK; ARM Korea Ltd.

This announcement contains "forward-looking statements" including statements concerning plans, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements which are other than statements of historical fact. The Company's actual results for future periods may differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, without limitation, potential for significant fluctuation in and unpredictability of results, the ability of semiconductor partners to manufacture and market microprocessors based on the ARM(R) architecture; the acceptance of ARM technology by systems companies; the availability of development tools, systems software and operating systems; the rapid change in technology in the industry and ARM's ability to develop new products in a timely manner; management of growth; competition from other architectures; general business and economic conditions; the growth in the semiconductor industry; the Company's ability to protect its intellectual property; and ARM's ability to attract and retain employees.