Amkor to Supply Advanced Packaging for Latest MCU and SoC Designs From Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas.

Business Editors/Technology Writers

CAMAS, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 2001

Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas (SMA), a U.S.-based division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, announced today that they have selected Amkor Technology (Nasdaq:AMKR) as the back-end manufacturing partner for their latest microcontroller (MCU) and System-on-Chip (SoC) designs.

Amkor will manufacture Thin Quad Flat Packs (TQFP), Flex Ball Grid Arrays (fleXBGA) and Plastic Ball Grid Arrays (PBGA) based on SMA designs.

SMA recently announced that it has been designated Sharp's North American design center for MCU and SoC products. To support their initiatives to capture a large share of the growing MCU marketplace, SMA has made agreements with key foundries including UMC. Amkor will provide SMA with the necessary tools to complete the manufacturing and test process for their advanced designs and quickly bring these products to market.

Amkor Technology is the world's largest independent supplier of outsourced packaging and test semiconductor interconnect services. Amkor recognizes that as integrated circuits become faster and more complex, the cost and performance of the interconnect between chip and system board has become both a significant challenge and an enabling technology.

"We selected Amkor as our back-end manufacturing and test partner because they can supply the most advanced packaging technologies including the latest chip scale and ball grid array solutions required in high pin count and high density applications," said Terry Thomas, SMA's director of marketing for microcontrollers and System-on-Chip. "Because Amkor continues to invest in R&D, we are confident that they will meet our future needs for advanced flip chip and system-in-package ICs."

Amkor is also currently implementing a plan to expand its presence in the Asian marketplace and has recently announced the acquisition of two established assembly and test companies in Taiwan, Taiwan Semiconductor Technology Corporation (TSTC) of Linkou and Sampo Semiconductor Corporation (SSC) of Lung-Tang.

"Amkor's aggressive initiatives in the Asian market lend further support to their position as a worldwide leader in the test and packaging marketplace," Thomas said. "We are confident that they will continue their growth and provide us with the most advanced technologies with a minimum time to market."

The decision to operate a design center in North America is a notable departure for Sharp, which previously designed all products in Japan. The Camas, Washington-based team of engineers is designing products primarily for the North American market and is strongly focused on market- and customer-driven requirements. They have already announced two SOC designs, the LH79520 and the LH7A400, over the last few months, and with the addition of Amkor, have secured agreements with the necessary manufacturing partners to quickly deliver these products to market.

SMA has completed licensing agreements for the ARM 7TDMI-S, ARM 720T and ARM 922T, as well as the 8051 E-Warp to provide the foundation for MCU / SoC development. Products designed in Camas will be manufactured in production level quantities within Sharp Corporation internal facilities and foundries throughout the world.

About Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas

Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas (SMA), Camas, Wash., is a U.S.-based company and a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation which is a subsidiary of Sharp Corporation, Osaka, Japan. Sharp is a worldwide developer of core digital technologies that are playing an integral role in shaping the next generation of electronic products for consumer and business needs. SMA offers breakthrough memory, LCD, opto, CCD, RF/IR, microcomputer and system-on-chip components, along with packaging and integration skills that help design engineers throughout North and South America bring their ambitious ideas to market. SMA is dedicated to improving people's lives through the use of advanced technology and a commitment to innovation, quality, value and design.

About Amkor Technology

Amkor Technology, Inc. is the world's largest provider of contract microelectronics manufacturing solutions. The company offers semiconductor companies and electronics OEMs a complete set of microelectronic design and manufacturing services, including deep sub-micron wafer fabrication; wafer probe, wafer mapping, characterization and reliability testing; IC packaging design and assembly; multi-chip module design and assembly; and final testing. More information on Amkor is available from the company's SEC filings and on Amkor's web site: www.amkor.com.

Note: all trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective companies. ARM7TDMI(TM) ARM 7TDMI-S, ARM 720T, ARM 922T are trademarks of Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) Ltd. 8051 is a trademark of Intel. M8051 E-Warp is a trademark of Mentor Graphics.