Cypress Names Chief Technology Officer for Interface Products Division; Semiconductor Industry Veteran Leads Cypress Expansion into USB Highspeed 2.0.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 2001

Cypress Semiconductor (NYSE:CY) today announced the appointment of David Wooten as chief technology officer of the Interface Products Division. Wooten reports directly to the vice president of the Interface Products Division Cathal Phelan.

Wooten's charter at Cypress is to track new interface technologies that may influence the division's product portfolio and to provide the division with the data it needs to successfully bring new products to market. He will also represent Cypress in the standards community and ensure that Cypress is positioned to capitalize on the opportunities presented by emerging data interface standards such as USB 2.0.

"David Wooten is a respected and influential player in the electronics industry," said Phelan. "He will play a crucial role in guiding Cypress's implementation of USB technology to industry leadership as the computer and consumer markets adopt USB 2.0."

USB is an interconnect technology featuring smaller standard connectors, easier installation, port expandability, and faster performance than legacy ports. USB 2.0 has significant user benefits over existing technology, is fully backward compatible with USB 1.1, remains a simple technology despite its 40-times increase in bandwidth, and is cost effective. No other technology fulfills all these criteria, making USB 2.0 the next apparent industry interface standard for PC peripherals.

Wooten comes to Cypress with over 25 years of experience in the electronics industry, in companies focused on semiconductors, computer systems, optical disks, and workstations. His most recent position was as a Fellow at Compaq Computer Corporation, where he was a primary contributor to the development of USB. Wooten is chairman of the IEEE P1394b Working Group and a member of the board of directors and the technology officer of the 1394 Trade Association.

About Cypress

Cypress Semiconductor is "Driving the Communications Revolution"(TM) by providing high-performance integrated circuit solutions to fast-growing markets, including data communications, telecommunications, computation, consumer products, and industrial control. With a focus on emerging communications applications, Cypress's product portfolios include networking-optimized and micropower static RAMs; high-bandwidth multi-port and FIFO memories; high-density programmable logic devices; timing technology for PCs and other digital systems; and controllers for Universal Serial Bus (USB). Cypress is No. 1 in the USB and clock chip markets.

More than two-thirds of Cypress's sales come from fast-growing communications markets and dynamic companies such as Alcatel, Cisco, Ericsson, Lucent, Motorola, Nortel Networks, and 3Com. Cypress's ability to mix and match its broad portfolio of intellectual property enables targeted, integrated solutions for high-speed systems that feed bandwidth-hungry Internet applications. Cypress aims to become the preferred silicon supplier for Internet switching systems and for every Internet data stream to pass through at least one Cypress IC.

Cypress employs more than 4,500 people worldwide with international headquarters in San Jose, California. Its shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CY. More information about Cypress is accessible electronically on the company's worldwide Web site at http://www.cypress.com or by CD-ROM (call 1-800-858-1810). An electronic investor forum, and other investor information, is located at http://www.cypress.com/investor/index.html.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements herein that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" involving risks and uncertainties, including by not limited to: the effect of global economic conditions, shifts in supply and demand, market acceptance, the impact of competitive products and pricing, product development, commercialization and technological difficulties, and capacity and supply constraints. Please refer to Cypress's Securities and Exchange Commission filings for a discussion of such risks.

Note to Editors: "Driving the Communications Revolution" is a trademark of Cypress Semiconductor.