Intersil's PRISM GT 802.11g WLAN Solution Selected for NETGEAR's New 54 Mbps Wireless PC Card, Access Point and Router.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 7, 2003

Intersil Corporation (Nasdaq:ISIL):

-- Intersil's PRISM GT technology delivers the speed of 802.11a and range of 802.11b

-- The NETGEAR WG511 PC Card, WG602 AP and WGR614 Router have 802.11b and 802.11g built in

Intersil Corporation (Nasdaq:ISIL), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog and wireless networking solutions, today announced that NETGEAR, Inc., a worldwide provider of easy-to-use, high performance networking products, has selected Intersil's PRISM GT(TM) Wireless Local Area Networking (WLAN) chip set to provide 802.11g connectivity for their new WG511 Wireless PC Card, WG602 Wireless Access Point and WGR614 Wireless Router.

"NETGEAR did an extensive review and determined that Intersil's PRISM GT chip set provided the most powerful wireless networking solution available on the market today to enable our new 802.11g wireless networking systems," said Patrick Lo, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of NETGEAR. "The NETGEAR WG511 Wireless PC Card, WG602 Wireless Access Point and WGR614 Wireless Router are ideal for high-bandwidth enterprise applications such as wireless video conferencing and large file transfers, as well as advanced home networking applications like multi-channel CD-quality audio and DVD-quality video streaming."

"Intersil's PRISM GT technology is a full featured, total solution that combines the speed of 802.11a, with the range of 802.11b and is fully compatible with any 802.11b radio," said Larry Ciaccia, vice president and general manager of Intersil's Wireless Networking Product Group. "Netgear is a well established supplier in the retail channel, known for quality, high performance solutions. We are excited to add them to a growing list of market leaders choosing Intersil's PRISM GT technology."

Designed to the 802.11g Draft Standard, the NETGEAR WG511 PC Card, WG602 Wireless Access Point and WGR814 Wireless Router offer customers speeds of up to almost five times faster than currently deployed 802.11b WLAN products found in homes, businesses and public hotspots. Since they share the same 2.4 GHz radio band, these new NETGEAR products are backward compatible to the existing installed base of over 35 million 802.11b systems worldwide. Since both standards are built in, the user can protect their investment in existing 802.11b infrastructure, and migrate your network clients to the new screaming fast 802.11g standard

The PRISM GT chip set combines the 802.11g Draft Standard's mandatory modulation schemes - Complementary Code Keying (CCK) used in 802.11b and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) used in 802.11a. Intersil design engineers have skillfully incorporated these modulation schemes with Intersil's proven low-cost Zero-IF (ZIF) architecture, which allows what is called direct down conversion of radio frequency signals, in crafting the PRISM GT chip set. Designed to support the new 802.11g high-rate Draft Standard for WLAN products operating in the 2.4 GHz band, PRISM GT provides twice the range and throughput for currently marketed 802.11a products and over five times the throughput of 802.11b products.

About NETGEAR Inc.

NETGEAR provides branded, easy-to-use, reliable and technologically advanced networking solutions for homes and small businesses. Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley, Santa Clara, Calif., NETGEAR designs and develops products that enable home and small business users to share Internet access, peripherals, digital content and applications among multiple personal computers and other Internet-enabled devices. NETGEAR primarily markets and sells its products through distributors based in North America, Europe and the Asia/Pacific region to a network of resellers, including more than 4,500 retail stores, mail order catalogs and online retailers. For more information visit the company's Web site at http://www.netgear.com or call [phone] CA, 92618.

About Intersil

Intersil Corporation is a global semiconductor leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog and wireless networking solutions. Intersil's product portfolios address four fast growing markets - flat panel displays, optical storage (CD and DVD recordable), power management and wireless networking. Intersil brings added customer value in providing complete silicon, software and reference design solutions to new products that enhance the computing experience for people wherever they live, work or travel. For more information about Intersil or to find out how to become a member of our winning team, visit the company's web site and career page at: http://www.intersil.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are based upon Intersil Corporation's ("Intersil") management's current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, and projections about Intersil's business and industry. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will," "should," "would," "potential," "continue," and variations of these words (or negatives of these words) or similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various risk factors. Important risk factors that may cause such material differences for Intersil's WLAN product group include, but are not limited to: the slowdown in the technology sector generally and the semiconductor industry specifically; our ability to successfully deploy our up integration strategy; the rate at which consumers adopt small handheld Internet appliances and portable computing devices in enterprises and in homes; the rate at which consumers purchase small handheld Internet appliances, portable computing devices, and notebook computers with embedded wireless; the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Intersil's wireless access technologies; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders; the ability of our customers to manage inventory; the loss of a key customer; the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products; silicon wafer pricing and the availability and quality of our foundry capacity and raw materials; availability, pricing, and quality of third party foundry and assembly and test capacity and raw materials; fluctuations in the manufacturing yields of our third party foundries and assembly and test facilities, and other problems or delays in the fabrication, assembly, testing or delivery of our products; the risks of producing products with new suppliers and at new fabrication and assembly and test facilities; problems or delays that we may face in shifting our products to smaller geometry process technologies; the effectiveness of Intersil's expense and product cost control and reduction efforts; the risks inherent in acquisitions, including the acquisition of Elantec Semiconductor, Inc. (including integration issues; costs and unanticipated expenditures; changing relationships with customers, suppliers, and strategic partners; potential contractual, employment, and intellectual property issues; or that the anticipated benefits of the acquisition are not realized); intellectual property disputes, customer indemnification claims, and other litigation risks; Intersil's ability to develop, market, and transition to volume production new products and technologies in a timely manner; the quality of Intersil's products and any repair or replacement costs; the risks and uncertainties associated with Intersil's global operations, particularly in light of the war on terrorism; the effects of natural disasters, international conflicts and other events beyond our control; the level of orders received and the ability to fill those orders in a given fiscal quarter; and other factors. Intersil's Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other Intersil filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") (which you may obtain for free at the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov) discuss some of the important risk factors that may affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this communication and Intersil undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements.

PRISM GT is a trademark of Intersil Americas Inc.

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