ELSTREE, England—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Jan. 17, 2006— Semico Research is predicting that unit shipments of SoCs incorporating configurable 32-bit CPUs will grow at close to 50 percent over the next few years, compared to a unit growth rate of less than 10 percent for SoCs incorporating fixed architecture 32-bit processors. Predictions such as this, together with the rapid increase in adopters of configurable CPU technology, are some of the reasons why configurability is widely considered to be the SoC design methodology for the 21st century. Now there is a conference for IC developers and OEMs to learn about the wide array of solutions from companies throughout the configurability industry.

ARC International (LSE:ARK), together with partners DigiTimes and Semico Research, today announced ConfigCon Taiwan, the first in a series of ConfigCon(TM) conferences that will be held throughout 2006. ConfigCon Taiwan will take place at the Ambassador Hotel in Hsinchu on February 23rd. The event's theme is "How Configurable SoC Technology is Enabling the Multimedia Market." It will include more than 20 presentations from companies across the configurable SoC development chain that supply processor cores; related on-chip IP; compilers/debuggers and other software development tools; HDL simulation, synthesis and EDA tools; middleware and operating systems; and silicon manufacturing services.

"Over the course of the last decade I watched with great interest as the CPU core based technology has grown in prominence," said Tony Massimini, Chief of Technology at Semico Research Corp. of Phoenix, AZ. "It is with equal excitement that I now witness the extension of CPU cores through configurability. No one company can make it happen. Future growth will come through partnerships involving IP providers, EDA vendors, software developers and more. I look forward to ConfigCon 2006 as the inaugural event that will bring these different parties together."

"ARC and its partners are pleased to introduce the industry's first ever series of developers conferences focused on configurability," said Derek Meyer, ARC's senior vice president of sales and marketing, "a methodology that provides designers unique SoCs that resist cloning, use less silicon area, and provides features that command higher ASPs. "By educating the industry on the benefits of configurability, ConfigCon conferences will increase the high rate of adoption this approach is experiencing among SoC designers tired of shoe-horning one-size-fits all fixed-architecture cores into their end products. The high number of participating companies is a testament to the events' appeal and the developing ecosystem of support for configurable technology."

About ConfigCon Taiwan 2006

The conference will begin with a morning of keynote presentations from industry leading semiconductor executives, including a presentation by Semico Research Corporation on the market potential for configurable SoC devices. The afternoon will feature three parallel presentation tracks that detail software development tools, EDA design flows, CPU IP, libraries and multimedia SoCs incorporating configurable devices. Companies scheduled to speak include Cadence Design Systems, Green Hills Software, ARC International, BDTI, Virage Logic, Magma Design Automation, Express Logic, Tao Group, Codito Technologies, Sonics, CoWare among others. For a complete agenda visit www.configcon.com. Registration is free to qualified participants; the event includes complementary lunch and evening cocktail reception.

About ARC International plc

ARC International is the world leader in low-power, high-performance 32-bit configurable CPU/DSP processor cores, subsystems, real-time operating systems and development tools for embedded system design. ARC's patented configurable CPU technology assists customers in the development of next generation digital media, consumer and communications devices, resulting in lower cost, higher performance SoC products.

ARC International maintains a worldwide presence with corporate offices in San Jose, California, USA and Elstree, UK. The company has research and development offices located in England and the United States. For more information please visit the ARC website at: www.ARC.com. ARC International is listed on the London Stock Exchange as ARC International plc (LSE:ARK).

ARC, the ARC logo, and Configcon are trademarks or registered trademarks of ARC International. All other brands or product names contained herein are the property of their respective owners. This press release may contain certain "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For factors that could cause actual results to differ, visit the company's Website as well as the listing particulars filed with the United Kingdom Listing Authority and the Registrar of Companies in England and Wales.

ARC International
Jonah McLeod, 408-437-3477
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