Fairchild Semiconductor Offers First Complete DIMM Support Solution; New Devices Allow More Memory and Faster Speed for Personal Computers and Internet Servers

Business Wire, July 19, 2000

Business/Technology Editors

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 2000

Fairchild Semiconductor International (NYSE:FCS) is first in the industry to offer a complete memory interface support solution for DIMM modules used in personal computers and Internet servers. The result will increase the memory and operating speed of those PCs and servers.

Fairchild estimates the market for these devices, which will be sold to memory module manufacturers, will exceed $100 million in 2001. This reflects Fairchild's recent emphasis on high growth interface markets.

Driven by surging consumer demand for increased memory in workstations and Internet servers, Fairchild's design engineers met that demand with new products. Their solution uses three devices: the FMS7857 Phase Locked Loop (PLL) Clock Driver; the SSTV16857 Registered Buffer, and the FM34W02 Serial Presence Detect EEPROM. The combination of these devices is used for the synchronization and control of clock and data signals and to allow the CPU to determine the capacity and electrical characteristics of memory chips in the PC and Internet servers, providing more memory and faster speed.

These devices were developed through the collaboration of Fairchild's Interface and Logic Group and Analog and Mixed Signal Products Group. Fairchild is the only company to offer this complete DDR DIMM support solution for 184-pin, 2.5v PC200/PC266, 72-bit wide Registered Double Data Rate (DDR) SDRAM memory modules.

Fairchild Semiconductor International (www.fairchildsemi.com) is a global company solely focused on designing, manufacturing and marketing high performance semiconductors for multiple end market uses. Fairchild's multi-market components are used in computer, telecommunications, automotive, consumer and industrial applications. Supplying power, analog & mixed signal, interface, logic, and optoelectronics products, Fairchild is filling the gap in the global supply of building block semiconductors. The company is headquartered in South Portland, Maine, USA, with 10,000 employees worldwide. Additional manufacturing facilities are located in Utah, South Korea, China, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, with regional sales offices throughout the world.

Special Note on Forward Looking Statements:

This news release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward looking statements often, though not always, include words or phrases such as "believe," "expect," "estimate," "intends," and "appears." Forward looking statements that express our beliefs, plans, objectives, or future events or performance may involve estimates, assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. In addition to factors discussed above, many other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward looking statements. Among these factors are the following: changes in overall economic conditions; changes in demand for our products; changes in inventories at our customers and distributors; technological and product development risks; availability of manufacturing capacity; availability of raw materials; competitors' actions; loss of key customers; order cancellations or reduced bookings; changes in manufacturing yields or output; significant litigation and the impact on our business due to internal systems or systems of suppliers and other third parties adversely affected by year 2000 problems. Other risk factors are listed in the company's Form 10-K for the year ended 26 December 1999 (see the Risk Factors section of the Business description and the Outlook and Business Risk section of Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations).