Matsushita Electric Licenses ARM Cores for Wireless Devices

CAMBRIDGE, England and OSAKA, Japan, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- ARM [(LSE: ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMHY)], the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions, and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. of Japan (NYSE: MC) today announced that Matsushita has licensed the ARM946E-S(TM) and the ARM926EJ-S(TM) microprocessor cores.

Using these ARM microprocessor cores, Matsushita will offer advanced system-on-chip (SoC) products for use in future wireless devices such as mobile phones, including W-CDMA devices.

This license expands Matsushita's use of ARM cores and will enable them to reinforce their presence in the embedded market. ARM cores previously licensed by Matsushita include the ARM7TDMI® core and the ARM920T(TM) core. The ARM926EJ-S core combines industry-leading performance and very low power requirements with support for ARM Jazelle(TM) technology for Java acceleration. The ARM946E-S core is a complete high-performance embedded processor solution, offering considerable savings in chip complexity and area, chip system design, power consumption and time-to-market.

"Matsushita has experienced much success with the ARM7TDMI and the ARM920T cores, which we applied to our SoC for mobile telecommunications products, including cdmaOne(TM) and W-CDMA," said Katsuhiko Ueda, Processor Development Center director for Matsushita Electric Industrial. "With this core reinforcement, we will promptly offer the best SoC solutions for a wide range of our customers' needs."

"Matsushita has a tremendous track record in the wireless sector and a reputation for innovation. Together we will continue to improve the performance and capabilities of next-generation wireless devices," said Takio Ishikawa, president, ARM KK. "ARM's cores are well proven in the wireless market and continue to drive the market's move towards very high performance products integrating the functionality of handheld computers with mobile communications devices."

Availability

Matsushita will offer SoC devices based on the ARM926EJ-S core in Q2 2003 and based on the ARM946E-S core in Q3 2003.

About ARM

ARM is the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions. The company licenses its high-performance, low- cost, power-efficient RISC processors, peripherals and system-on-chip (SoC) designs to leading international electronics companies. ARM also provides comprehensive support required in developing a complete system. ARM's microprocessor cores are rapidly becoming a volume RISC standard in such markets as portable communications, hand-held computing, multimedia digital consumer and embedded solutions. More information on ARM is available at www.arm.com .

About Matsushita Electric Industrial

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., best known for its Panasonic, National, Technics and Quasar brand names, is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronics products for a wide range of consumer, business, and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated sales of US$51.70 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2002. In addition to the Tokyo and other Japanese stock exchanges (6752), Matsushita is also listed on the Amsterdam, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, New York, Pacific (NYSE/PCX: MC) and Paris stock exchanges. For more information, visit the Matsushita web site at http://www.panasonic.co.jp/global/top.html .