Rumors Confirmed: SigmaTel Audio IC Drives Apple iPod Shuffle; Portelligent Analysis Indicates that Apple has Chosen SigmaTel's D-Major STMP3550 Chip for the iPod Shuffle.

AUSTIN, Texas -- In a quick-turn "product teardown" analysis, Portelligent, Inc., has confirmed that Apple's just released iPod Shuffle MP3 player employs SigmaTel's D-Major (TM) STMP3550 MP3 audio decoder chip for audio processing.

"This determination provides concrete verification of weeks of rumors in the trade press that the two companies had reached an agreement which would make a SigmaTel device a key part of the new flash-based Apple music player," according to Dave Carey, president of Portelligent.

SigmaTel's D-Major (TM) series audio decoders, including the STMP3550, target applications in portable MP3 players based on flash memory, where low power consumption is essential to permit extended battery life. The STMP3550, which enables digital signal processing on audio data at 75MHz, supports data transfer via Hi-Speed USB; an LED/LCD driver; AA, AAA, and lithium-ion batteries; playlist management; and both NAND flash memory and a variety of removable storage media such as SmartMedia, Secure Digital, and CompactFlash.

The Apple iPod Shuffle is the first portable music player in the iPod series to employ flash memory for the storage of audio data, as opposed to a micro hard disk drive. In previous iPods analyzed by Portelligent, including the original iPod, the 3G iPod 30GB, and the iPod Mini, Apple system designers have used audio ICs from Wolfson Micro in conjunction with Portal Player processors.

Portelligent, Inc., located in Austin, Texas, USA, offers reports and analyses that are generated through a rigorous "product-teardown" methodology to the electronics, wireless, semiconductor, and financial sectors. Portelligent is a spin-out of the MCC research consortium, where underlying analytical methods and cost models were developed.

For additional information about Portelligent's product teardown analyses and other analytical offerings, in the U.S. contact Don Stroud ([e-mail]; Tel. [phone]). In Europe contact Niels Kellerhoff ([e-mail]; Tel. [phone]).

For additional information about Portelligent, visit the Portelligent Web site at www.portelligent.com or contact the company directly at Tel. [phone] (E-mail: [e-mail]).