Top Chinese Utility Meter Manufacturers Choose Ramtron's FRAM Memory Products.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2002

Six New Design Programs Underscore FRAM Market Potential

in the Growing $1.1-Billion Chinese Utility Meter Market

Ramtron International Corporation (Nasdaq:RMTR), the leading developer of next-generation nonvolatile memory products, announced today that six of the largest utility meter manufacturers in China have selected the company's ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) for use in a variety of single- and triple-phase multi-rate digital power meters. The slate of manufacturers have chosen Ramtron's nonvolatile FRAM memory for its high-reliability features, including superior write endurance, fast read/write speed and low power operation. Specifically, the manufacturers have selected Ramtron's FM24C04, FM24C16 and FM24C256 products for use in the meters. The potential FRAM product volume, once the design programs move into production, is approximately 1.5 million units per year. To date, Ramtron has shipped more than 4 million FRAM devices into utility metering products worldwide and is in the process of shipping more than 27 million units into the world's largest digital meter installation program now underway in Italy.

"These design programs, combined with our past successes, underscore Ramtron's growing market acceptance in the worldwide digital utility meter market," said Mike Alwais, vice president, FRAM Products. "These new programs are just a few of the opportunities in China, and this is only one of several markets beginning to embrace FRAM memory for advanced metering solutions."

China's utility meter market is among the largest and fastest growing in the world. Market research firm Frost and Sullivan reports that the Chinese meter market is expected to grow to $1.1 billion on an annual volume of more than 114 million meters by 2005. FRAM's unique feature set makes it ideal for an emerging class of digital utility meters that enhance energy distribution and management. Among the companies designing FRAM into their metering products are Hangzhou Holley Group, Jiangsu Linyang Electronics, Hunan Weisheng Electronics, Shenzhen Longdian, Hangzhou Hualong Electronics, and Henan Star Instrument.

The meter manufacturing market in China is undergoing rapid growth due to the Chinese government's market economy policy and continuously improving economic conditions. In the early 1990s and before, gas, electricity and water were state-owned; utility meter manufacturers were principally state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that strictly followed production plans set by the central government. With relaxed government regulations, many highly competitive private enterprises have emerged alongside SOEs to push the Chinese utility meter industry into a new period of development. As living standards and economic conditions in China improve, infrastructures and production conditions are expected to, as well. According to Frost and Sullivan, the demand for meters equipped with leading technologies, such as those that offer automatic meter reading (AMR), multi-tariff features and load-management analysis, is expected to increase and grow into an immense market.

In August 2001, Ramtron and UK-based Ampy Automation Digilog Limited signed a $65-million purchase agreement that calls for the purchase of Ramtron's FRAM memory products for use in sophisticated electronic meters to be installed in Italy. Schlumberger, one of the world's top meter suppliers, is another meter manufacturer that uses FRAM in their Eskom meter, a low-cost prepayment electricity meter for the South African market. The company's FRAM products are also gaining interest among Korean meter manufacturers, including LG Industrial Systems, Omnisystems and Namjun Electric. Other applications for Ramtron's FRAM memory devices include water and gas meters, automotive systems, multi-function printers and copiers, and other systems that require reliable storage of data without an external power source.

About Ramtron

Ramtron is the world leader in ferroelectric random access memories (FRAM) products -- new high-performance nonvolatile memories that merge the benefits of many mainstream memory technologies into a single device. The company also develops and markets ultra-high-performance memory products through its subsidiary, Enhanced Memory Systems, Inc.

For more information about Ramtron and its products, contact: Communications Department, Ramtron International Corporation, 1850 Ramtron Drive, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, 80921. Telephone is 800-545-FRAM (3726); FAX is 719-481-9294; E-mail address is [e-mail]. Homepage is http://www.ramtron.com.

"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 but 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 Ramtron's Securities and Exchange Commission filings for a discussion of such risks.