Financial Releases
RFMD(R) Completes Qualification of First Generation Gallium Nitride (GaN) Process Technology
NEW YORK, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RF Micro Devices, (Nasdaq: RFMD), a global leader in the design and manufacture of high- performance radio frequency systems and solutions, announced at its analyst day today it has completed the technical qualification of its first generation 48V Gallium Nitride (GaN) process technology.
RFMD is the world's leading manufacturer of compound semiconductors, and the Company leveraged its existing manufacturing assets and proven expertise in high volume compound semiconductor design and fabrication to deliver the excellent thermal and RF performance of its new GaN process technology. Pre- production volume shipments of RFMD's 48V GaN technology have commenced to customers in multiple end markets.
RFMD's 48V GaN process technology is ideally suited to address the growing customer requirements for higher power, higher efficiency and wider bandwidth. The Company is targeting multiple high-growth applications, including high- linearity CATV line amplifiers, military radar applications, wide bandwidth wireless infrastructure power amplifiers and power modules for revolutionary new high-lumen light generation applications.
"We have multiple products - both in production and in development - that will benefit from the insertion of our new GaN technology," said Bob Van Buskirk, president of RFMD's Multi-Market Products Group. "This new process technology provides an immediate competitive advantage to our newly formed Multi-Market Products Group, and the continued deployment of our GaN technology across multiple end markets will support our expectations for revenue and margin expansion as our Multi-Market Products Group continues to grow."
Van Buskirk continued, "RFMD's new GaN process technology delivers higher efficiency, wider operating bandwidth and greater ruggedness than currently available technologies. These performance characteristics are supporting favorable design activity across multiple high-growth applications."
Technical Overview
RFMD's high efficiency, high power GaN process technology exhibits best- in-class RF performance at 48V with 5.6W/mm average Psat, over 60% average Peak PAE and 24dB average Small Signal Gain measured at 2.1GHz frequency. The intrinsic electrical properties and outstanding reliability of RFMD's GaN technology enable improvements over bandwidth, power and efficiency, versus currently available, conventional technologies. The median time to failure (MTTF) at 180 degrees Celsius (operating junction temperature) is calculated to be greater than 1x106 hours using three-temperature testing over multiple wafer lots.
About RFMD: RF Micro Devices (Nasdaq GS: RFMD) is a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance radio frequency systems and solutions for applications that drive wireless and broadband communications. RFMD's cellular front ends, cellular transceivers, RF components and system- on-chip (SoC) solutions enable worldwide mobility, provide enhanced connectivity and support advanced functionality in the cellular handset, cellular base station, wireless local area network (WLAN), CATV networking, aerospace, defense, and global positioning systems (GPS) markets. Recognized for its diverse portfolio of state-of-the-art semiconductor technologies and vast RF systems expertise, RFMD is a preferred supplier to the world's leading mobile device and RF equipment manufacturers.
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 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 and other reports 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.
RF MICRO DEVICES® and RFMD® are trademarks of RFMD, LLC. All other trade names, trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE RF Micro Devices
11/15/2007
CONTACT: Dean Priddy, CFO, +1-336-678-7975, Doug DeLieto, VP, Investor Relations, +1-336-678-7968, or Jerry Neal, Executive Vice President, +1-336-678-7001, all of RF Micro Devices
1673 11/15/2007 09:30 EST http://www.prnewswire.com