Global Communication Semiconductors, Inc. Receives ISO 9001-2000 Certification

Business Wire, Dec 16, 2002

Business Editors

TORRANCE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 2002

GCS, Inc. (Global Communication Semiconductors, Inc.), the world's leading pure-play III-V compound semiconductor wafer foundry, announced today that it has received ISO 9001-2000 certification from DNV (Det Norske Veritas Certification, Inc.), a third party registrar.

"GCS has been continuously ISO 9002 certified for over 3 years and has never had any major non-conformities," remarked Dr. Sam Lee, CEO of GCS. "It takes a concerted effort from every department at every level to maintain the quality and discipline required to satisfy and pass biannual ISO audits. I am especially proud that our team was able to accomplish the transition to the new ISO 9001-2000 standard on our first attempt," continued Dr. Lee.

ISO 9001 standards were first published in 1987, revised in 1994, and then an updated version was republished in 2000. These new standards are referred to as "ISO 9001-2000 Standards" and add additional responsibilities and accountability based in eight quality management principles as well as requiring a continual improvement process. Another major improvement from the old standard is that ISO 9001-2000 focuses on understanding customer needs, requirements and exceeding customer expectations.

Global Communication Semiconductors Inc., based in Torrance, California, provides III-V compound semiconductor foundry services to the wireless telecommunication and high-speed networking industries. GCS currently offers foundry service for InGaP and InP HBT processes, PHEMT processes and also provides optoelectronic foundry services for the fiber optic communication market.