Financial Releases
RFMD(R) Commences Production of POLARIS(TM) 3 Total Radio(TM)
GREENSBORO, N.C., July 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RF Micro Devices, (Nasdaq: RFMD), a global leader in the design and manufacture of high- performance radio systems and solutions for applications that drive mobile communications, today announced that it has commenced volume production of its POLARIS 3 TOTAL RADIO RF system solution to support customer orders. RFMD's POLARIS 3 is a fully integrated quad-band EDGE RF solution that offers unmatched levels of RF functionality. Commercial shipments of POLARIS 3 are expected to begin in the September 2007 quarter, and production volumes of POLARIS 3 are forecast to increase sequentially throughout calendar year 2008.
Bob Bruggeworth, president and CEO of RFMD, said, "The commencement of commercial production of POLARIS 3 represents the culmination of years of technology development, as we have assembled the design, manufacturing and packaging competencies necessary to supply large production volumes of the industry's most highly integrated RF system solution. Our POLARIS 3 RF solution enables handset manufacturers to quickly and cost-effectively deploy a high-performance, system-in-package (SiP) RF implementation across multiple handsets and market tiers. RFMD is the global leader in cellular RF, and we will continue to invest in the technologies and resources necessary to help advance our customers' competitive positions."
Eric Creviston, corporate vice president of RFMD's cellular products group, said, "POLARIS 3 is a highly integrated, complete system-in-package solution that performs all the critical functions of the RF section of an handset, including the cellular transceiver, power amplification, filtering and transmit/receive switch, in two easy-to-place modules shielded by advanced integrated RF shielding technology. As a result, POLARIS 3 reduces the RF footprint by approximately 50%, compared to leading solutions, and offers handset manufacturers the benefits of platform flexibility, ease-of-use, reduced size, low cost and high performance."
RFMD's POLARIS 3 is a complete RF solution. It features a highly integrated radio transceiver module that incorporates a single-chip CMOS EDGE transceiver, the full crystal oscillator and all necessary receive filter functionality. The solution also features RFMD's industry-leading front end technology, including the power amplifier and transmit/receive switch. Finally, the revolutionary POLARIS 3 RF solution includes integrated RF shielding and will benefit from RFMD's patent-pending integrated RF shielding technology.
When implemented, POLARIS 3 eliminates the need for costly and cumbersome metal RF shields on the phone board while reducing component placements by approximately 80 percent, leading to a remarkable savings in solution size and height.
RFMD is the industry leader in cellular front ends. With the ramp of POLARIS 3, RFMD is increasing its dollar content within its cellular RF solutions. Specifically, RFMD's POLARIS solutions command approximately three times the dollar content of EDGE cellular front ends.
About RFMD: RF Micro Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq: RFMD) is a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance radio systems and solutions for applications that drive mobile communications. RFMD's power amplifiers, transmit modules, cellular transceivers and system-on-chip (SoC) solutions enable worldwide mobility, provide enhanced connectivity and support advanced functionality in current- and next-generation mobile handsets, cellular base stations, wireless local area networks (WLANs) and global positioning systems (GPS). Recognized for its diverse portfolio of state-of-the-art semiconductor technologies and vast RF systems expertise, RFMD is a preferred supplier enabling the world's leading mobile device manufacturers to deliver advanced wireless capabilities that satisfy current and future market demands.
Headquartered in Greensboro, N.C., RFMD is an ISO 9001- and ISO 14001- certified manufacturer with worldwide engineering, design, sales and service facilities. RFMD is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol RFMD. For more information, please visit RFMD's web site at http://www.rfmd.com.
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our plans, objectives, representations and contentions and are not historical facts and typically are identified by use of terms such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue" and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. You should be aware that the forward-looking statements included herein represent management's current judgment and expectations, but our actual results, events and performance could differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. We do not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements or publicly announce the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements, other than as is required under the federal securities laws. RF Micro Devices' business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including variability in quarterly operating results, the rate of growth and development of wireless markets, risks associated with the operation of our wafer fabrication facilities, molecular beam epitaxy facility, assembly facility and test and tape and reel facilities, our ability to attract and retain skilled personnel and develop leaders, variability in production yields, our ability to reduce costs and improve gross margins by implementing innovative technologies, our ability to bring new products to market, our ability to adjust production capacity in a timely fashion in response to changes in demand for our products, dependence on a limited number of customers, and dependence on third parties. These and other risks and uncertainties, which are described in more detail in RF Micro Devices' most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual results and developments to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any of these forward- looking statements.
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SOURCE RF Micro Devices
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