Hyundai Electronics Announces Availability of 64 Mbit Rambus DRAM; Hyundai Will Marshal Its DRAM Manufacturing Forces to Meet Worldwide Rambus Demand.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 1999--Hyundai Electronics today announced availability of its new 64 Mbit Rambus(R) DRAM and its new 64 Mbit ECC (also known as 72 Mbit) Rambus DRAM (RDRAM(R)) product family.

Designated the HYRD64E840/HYRD72E840 Series, the new 0.22 micron-based RDRAM will be available in production quantities in mid 2Q '99. Later this year, Hyundai will introduce its 128 Mbit and its 144 Mbit ECC version on a separate die to give PC OEMs an additional cost-efficient choice.

Mark Ellsberry, vice president, Marketing for the Semiconductor Division of Hyundai Electronics, said, "The Rambus parts we're bringing to the PC market are well characterized and supported by our experienced product design and engineering staffs and vast production resources. We see major demand for these products on a worldwide basis resulting in potential supply shortages in the second half of this year and into the year 2000. However, with Hyundai's DRAM manufacturing resources, we will surprise the industry on how well we'll be able to meet the Rambus market demand."

"We are very pleased to see Hyundai deliver samples of Rambus DRAMs to the industry," said Peter MacWilliams, Intel Fellow and director of Platform Architecture for Intel Architecture Labs. "We look forward to Hyundai being a key vendor for the RDRAM ramp in 1999."

Allen Roberts, vice president and general manager for Rambus' Memory Technology Division said, "We're very excited to see Hyundai come a long way in a short period of time to become one of the leading suppliers of the Rambus DRAMs. With Hyundai on board and with their manufacturing prowess, system OEMs can be further assured of ample RDRAM supply."

Hyundai's RDRAM

Hyundai's 64 Mbit Rambus DRAM is the smallest and lowest power of its type produced so far in the industry. Based on 0.22-micron design rules, the die is about 20 percent smaller than competitive versions. Consequently, with the increased number of chips produced per wafer, Hyundai's Rambus offering is more cost competitive.

Rambus is a general-purpose, high-performance memory device targeted at computer memory applications. The architecture of the RDRAM allows the highest sustained bandwidth for multiple, simultaneous randomly addressed memory transactions. The separate control and data buses with independent row- and column-control yield over 95 percent bus efficiency. The RDRAM's 16 banks support up to 4 simultaneous transactions.

System-oriented features for mobile, graphics, and large memory systems include power management, byte masking, and x18 organization. The two data bits in the x18 organization are general and can be used for additional storage and bandwidth or for error correction.

Price and Availability

The RDRAM devices are priced at $26 for the 64 Mbit and $29 for the 64 Mbit ECC in sample quantities. Production starts in May '99. Sherry Garber, senior vice president of Semico Research Corp., a Phoenix-based research firm, said, "We project a worldwide RDRAM TAM this year of 150 million (with an upside to 180 million) equivalent 64-Mbit DRAMs."

Hyundai plans to be a significant and competitive supplier of RDRAM in this explosive market by deploying its world-class fabrication facilities and advanced process technologies.

About Hyundai Electronics America

Hyundai Electronics America (HEA) is a U.S. subsidiary of Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd. (HEI) of Ichon, Korea. Hyundai is an industry leader in the development, sales, marketing, and distribution of high-quality semiconductor devices (including DRAM, SDRAM, SRAM, Flash memory, and ASICs). Hyundai Electronics America is headquartered at 3101 North 1st St., San Jose CA 95134.

More information on Hyundai Electronics and its products is available from the company's Web site at http://www.hea.com.

Note to Editors: Hyundai and Hyundai Electronics America are registered trademarks of Hyundai Electronics America. Rambus and RDRAM are registered trademarks of Rambus Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.