Catalyst Semiconductor Disputes Xicor Patent Claim.

Business Editors

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2001

Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. (Nasdaq:CATS) today confirmed that a lawsuit alleging patent infringement against certain limited new products offerings was filed on April 17 by Xicor, Inc. in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. Based on its limited review of the complaint, Catalyst believes that the patent lawsuit is meritless and intends to vigorously defend itself. In addition, Catalyst management does not view the lawsuit as representing a material risk to the Company's consolidated operations or financial performance, as the patent suit relates to a product line which is not part of the Company's broadly diversified core business and which has not contributed in any significant way to the Company's past or current revenues. As previously announced in its April 6 press release, Catalyst is in the process of developing a number of different new product families which the Company plans to release over the next twelve months and which are not related to this law suit.

About Catalyst Semiconductor

Founded in 1985, Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. The Company designs and markets a broad range of programmable products, including Flash Memories, Serial and Parallel EEPROMs, NVRAM, Digital Potentiometers, Microcontroller Supervisory circuits and other programmable Mixed Signal products. Catalyst products are used in telecommunications, networking systems, computation, industrial and consumer markets, driven by the Internet revolution. Typical applications include modems, network cards, PC BIOS, DIMM modules, cellular telephones, digital satellite box receivers, set-top boxes and Internet routers. Catalyst's Quality Management System is ISO 9001 certified. Additional information may be obtained by visiting the Company's Web site at www.catsemi.com.

Except for those statements that report the Company's historical results, the statements being made are forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Factors which could cause actual results to differ from expectations include the following: economic conditions in the market generally and in the semiconductor industry specifically, volatility in supply and demand affecting revenues and market prices, price and availability of silicon foundry, assembly and test subcontract capacity required to meet financial targets and/or meet backlog requirements, risks and delays associated with bringing up new production capabilities or with deliveries from subcontractors, timing and market acceptance of new products, increased expenses associated with new product introductions or process changes, delays in developing or achieving volume production of new products, which can result in delays or failure to contribute to revenues and profits, ability of the Company to maintain its customer and vendor base and delays in and/or inability in raising additional capital. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward looking statements is contained under the heading "Certain Factors That May Affect the Company's Future Results of Operations" listed from time to time in Catalysts' SEC reports, including but not limited to the report on Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2000 and Forms 10-Q for the quarters ended July 31, 2000, October 31, 2000 and January 31, 2001.