Renesas Technology to Take Over SuperH, Inc. CPU Core Business
TOKYO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Sept. 28, 2004—
Renesas Technology Corp. today announced that it has
reached an agreement with STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM, hereinafter
"ST") to take over the SuperH(TM)* CPU core licensing business of
SuperH, Inc. (hereinafter "SHI"), a joint venture company with ST.
From the beginning of October, Renesas Technology and ST will develop
future SuperH architecture-based CPU cores separately.
SHI was established in July 2001 as a joint venture company
between Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT) and ST to develop CPU cores from the
SH-5 onward and license the SH-4 and subsequent next-generation CPU
cores. Since its formation, SHI has completed SH-5 CPU core
development and licensed the SuperH CPU core to licensees worldwide.
At the same time, the company has established close partnerships with
third parties, such as software, tools, and SoC design companies and
foundry partnerships with UMC and TSMC. The company was transferred to
Renesas Technology and ST after the formation of Renesas Technology in
April 2003, and has been operating as the joint venture company of
Renesas Technology and ST since then.
However, Renesas Technology and ST have decided that the best
strategy to achieve more widespread use of the SuperH architecture is
to integrate all activities from development and licensing through to
design, manufacture and sales. This has led to the present agreement.
"Renesas Technology will continue to strengthen its microprocessor
business and dedicate resources for the proliferation of the SuperH
architecture," said Dr. Koichi Nagasawa, Chairman & CEO at Renesas
Technology Corp. "The SuperH architecture has already established an
excellent market leadership position and has become the de facto
standard, especially in areas of automotive and mobile systems. To
build on this success, Renesas Technology will continue to work with
software, middleware and system integration partners to provide
compelling system solutions to these and other embedded applications."
"Over the last three years, SHI has successfully executed an
aggressive development plan and rolled out a range of SH-4 processor
cores particularly suited for digital consumer applications. ST will
continue to deploy this technology across its digital TV and set-top
box offering, enabling a more interactive and richer user experience
in these markets," commented Philippe Geyres, General Manager of ST's
Consumer & Microcontroller Groups.
On October 1, 2004, Renesas Technology and ST will take over SHI's
design assets and related development team. Renesas Technology will
further strengthen its development structure for SuperH microprocessor
cores by integrating the acquired assets into its microprocessor
development division. Renesas Technology will license and provide the
associated support needed to offer the best microprocessor cores
meeting the needs of sophisticated SoC markets.
Notes: SuperH is a trademark of Renesas Technology Corp.
About Renesas Technology Corp.
Renesas Technology Corp. designs and manufactures highly
integrated semiconductor system solutions for mobile, automotive and
PC/AV markets. Established on April 1, 2003 as a joint venture between
Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501, NYSE:HIT) and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
(TSE:6503) and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Renesas Technology is
one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world and world
leading microcontroller supplier globally. Besides microcontrollers,
Renesas Technology offers system-on-chip devices, Smart Card ICs,
mixed-signal products, flash memories, SRAMs and more.
http://www.renesas.com
Contact:
Renesas Technology Corp.
Motokazu Isozaki, +81-3-6250-5555 (Japan)
isozaki.motokazu@renesas.com
or
Renesas Technology Europe Ltd.
Jonathan Colbourne, +44-1628-585163 (Europe)
jonathan.colbourne@renesas.com
or
Renesas Technology Hong Kong Ltd.
Silkie Lau, +852-2265-6611 (Hong Kong & China)
silkie.lau@renesas.com
or
Renesas Technology America Inc.
Akiko Ishiyama, 408-382-7407 (U.S.)
akiko.ishiyama@renesas.com
or
Renesas Technology Singapore Pte.Ltd.
Honey Ong, +65-6213-0227 (Singapore)
ong.honey@renesas.com
or
Renesas Technology Taiwan Ltd.
Lili Wu, +886-2-3518-3391 (Taiwan)
lili.wu@renesas.com
