Microchip Technology Recognized for Leadership and Innovation; Company Honored by Leading Publications for Product and Business Excellence.

CHANDLER, Ariz. -- Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MCHP), a leading provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors, today announced that it has been recognized by five of the top electronics magazines and a prominent Arizona business publication for product and organizational leadership.

"As the worldwide leader in 8-bit microcontroller unit shipments, our greatest reward is that design engineers prefer Microchip for their embedded designs," said Steve Sanghi, Microchip's president and CEO. "We are extremely honored to be recognized for the technology excellence that our customers have come to expect."

Microchip's new PIC24 16-bit microcontrollers, which feature the highest performance in the industry, were honored by both Electronic Products and EEPN magazine. Electronic Products selected the PIC24 as the co-winner of one of its 2005 "Product of the Year" awards. This marks the second year in a row that Microchip has achieved this honor, having won in 2004 for the 6-pin PIC10F Microcontroller Family -- the world's smallest microcontrollers. From the thousands of products introduced in 2005, the editors of Electronic Products have chosen what they feel are among the most outstanding -- based on significant advances in technology or its application, a decided innovation in design, or a substantial gain in price-performance.

The PIC24 was named the "Best Microcontroller of 2005" by EEPN magazine in their 2005 Product Review & Outlook supplement. The semiconductors selected in various categories are considered by the EEPN staff as the best or most technically innovative of the past 12 months, from November 2004 to October 2005.

EDN magazine chose Microchip's PIC16F506/12F510 Baseline microcontrollers for their "Hot 100 Products of 2005" list in the "Processors" category. According to the magazine, "Every year, EDN's editors receive thousands of product announcements, and it's their job to narrow these thousands of choices into the hundreds of newsworthy items that each year grace the pages of EDN. Now, at the end of the year and working with 15 product categories, our editors must even further narrow down these selections: EDN's hot 100 products of 2005."

Other recent product honors include being named one of the "Top 30 Companies in Power Electronics" by Power Electronics Technology magazine. Additionally, EE Times magazine's Ultimate Products 2.3 Supplement featured the PIC16F639 passive-keyless-entry microcontrollers in their Top 10 list for the "Processors & Memory" category. EE Times' editors nominate products in each category, and winners are decided by a vote of their readership.

bizAZ magazine selected Microchip President and CEO Steve Sanghi as one of five winners for its 2005 "Arizona's Best Business Leaders" award. This distinctive honor pays tribute to individuals who have exhibited exemplary leadership in their companies and communities. Judging was based on the following leadership criteria: employee morale, customer satisfaction, growth and profit of the business, and community leadership. Finalists were verified through follow-up interviews with employees, customers, investors and community affiliations.

Microchip Customer Support

Microchip is committed to supporting its customers by helping design engineers develop products faster and more efficiently. Customers can access four main service areas at www.microchip.com. The Support area provides a fast way to get questions answered; the Sample area offers free evaluation samples of any Microchip device; microchipDIRECT provides 24-hour pricing, ordering, inventory and credit for convenient purchasing of all Microchip devices and development tools; finally, the Training area educates customers through webinars, sign-ups for local seminar and workshop courses, and information about the annual MASTERs events held throughout the world.

About Microchip Technology

Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MCHP) is a leading provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors, providing low-risk product development, lower total system cost and faster time to market for thousands of diverse customer applications worldwide. Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, Microchip offers outstanding technical support along with dependable delivery and quality. For more information, visit the Microchip website at www.microchip.com.

Note: The Microchip name and logo, and PIC are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Inc. in the USA and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies.