Press Room

NEWS
2001 / 02 / 20

ASE AND CONEXANT TO EXCHANGE

Santa Clara and Newport Beach, Calif., Feb. 20, 2001 – Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. (NYSE: ASX) and Conexant Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNXT) today announced a cross-licensing agreement in which both companies will exchange advanced semiconductor assembly technologies. Under the agreement, ASE will acquire Conexant’s radio frequency (RF) land grid array (LGA) design and process technology, and Conexant will receive ASE’s fine pitch ball grid array (BGA) technology.

The agreement will establish ASE as an additional source for Conexant’s high-volume RF LGA package technology for the manufacturing of Conexant products. This package is used for pin counts under 100 in RF applications that require very small component footprints such as wristwatch phones, personal digital assistant phones and Internet phones. ASE’s fine pitch BGA technology will be qualified for production in Conexant’s internal assembly and test manufacturing facility in Mexicali, Mexico. The fine pitch BGA package provides a small form factor component of a broad range of wireless baseband, computing and other semiconductor devices at pin counts up to 256.

“We are pleased to collaborate with ASE to provide our customers with the latest in state-of-the-art packaging technologies, ” said Joe Adam, vice president, packaging and test technology for Conexant.” In addition, this agreement will allow the industry at large to utilize Conexant’s RF LGA technology, a significant step in establishing this package as an industry standard.”

Teaming through technology transfers, and related vehicles, is part of ASE’s strategy in providing leading-edge packaging technologies to the IC industry, ” said Dr. Tien Wu, senior vice president, ASE Worldwide Marketing & N. America/Europe Sales. “We are continually expanding our packaging and testing portfolio worldwide, to meet the growing demands of leading-edge integrated device manufacturers such as Conexant.”

Safe Harbor Statements
This press release contains statements relating to future results of ASE and Conexant (including certain projections and business trends) that are “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: maintaining a consistent and reliable source of energy; global economic and market conditions, such as the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry and the markets addressed by the company’s and its customers’ products; demand for and market acceptance of new and existing products; successful development of new products; the timing of new product introductions; the availability and extent of utilization of manufacturing capacity; pricing pressures and other competitive factors; changes in product mix; fluctuations in manufacturing yields; product obsolescence; the ability to develop and implement new technologies and to obtain protection for the related intellectual property; the successful separation of the Company’s Internet infrastructure and personal networking businesses; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; labor relations of the company, its customers and suppliers; and the uncertainties of litigation, as well as other risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed from time to time in the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Conexant Systems, Inc.
With revenues of $2.1 billion in fiscal 2000, Conexant is the world’s largest independent company focused exclusively on providing semiconductor solutions for communications electronics. With more than 30 years of experience in developing communications technology, the company draws upon its expertise in mixed-signal processing to deliver integrated systems and semiconductor products for a broad range of communications applications. These products facilitate communications worldwide through wireline voice and data communications networks, cordless and cellular wireless telephony systems, personal imaging devices and equipment, and emerging cable and wireless broadband communications networks. The company organizes its activities into two business areas: Internet infrastructure, which consists of the Network Access products, and personal networking, comprised of Digital Infotainment, Personal Imaging, www.conexant.com/.


 

About ASE, Inc.

ASE, Inc. is the leading global provider of semiconductor manufacturing services in assembly and test. Alongside a broad portfolio of established assembly and test technologies, ASE is also delivering innovative advanced packaging and system-in-package solutions to meet growth momentum across a broad range of end markets, including 5G, AI, Automotive, High-Performance Computing, and more. To learn about our advances in SiP, Fan-out, MEMS & Sensor, Flip Chip, and 2.5D, 3D & TSV technologies, all ultimately geared towards applications to improve lifestyle and efficiency, please visit: aseglobal.com or follow us on on LinkedIn and X: @aseglobal.