MIPS Technologies Expands Asia/Pacific Focus To Capitalize on Global SoC Market Opportunities

TOKYO, January 17, 2002 - MIPS Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: MIPS, MIPSB), a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer and network applications, today formally opened a new, expanded sales, marketing and support office in Japan, signaling the company's increased commitment to the growing Asia/Pacific system-on-chip (SoC) marketplace. This move reinforces the already strong MIPS® brand in Japan, which was established through early, high-profile design wins with Sony and Nintendo a decade ago, and rounds out the company's global sales and marketing focus on emerging and established markets for next-generation microprocessor designs.

John Bourgoin, chairman and chief executive officer of MIPS Technologies, led the opening ceremony, along with Kazufumi Nakagami, business development director and country manager for Japan. They were joined by senior executives from NEC, Synopsys and Toshiba Corp., among others.

The Japan market was an early adopter of MIPS Technologies solutions, with MIPS-based[tm] technology being incorporated in a broad array of low-power and high-performance embedded designs. Leading semiconductor companies in Japan, such as NEC, Toshiba, Philips, IDT and LSI Logic, have been licensing 32- and 64-bit MIPS technology since the late 1980s to develop applications such as digital consumer products, broadband communications and mobile devices. Among the results are popular end products such as the Nintendo® 64 game console, Sony's PlayStation® and PlayStation® 2 computer entertainment systems, the Sony Aibo[tm] entertainment robot, digital set-top boxes, digital cameras and handheld PCs.

More recent design wins, a result of new products and increasing support from field engineering, sales and marketing in MIPS Technologies' Tokyo office, include development of the world's first 64-bit RISC processors for space applications, which will be deployed in NASDA satellites. And Toshiba is developing MIPS32[tm]-based devices for high-performance digital consumer and automotive applications. Meanwhile, MIPS-based processors from NEC are powering millions of interactive digital cable set-top boxes now being shipped by Sony.

"Our success in Japan and around the world is due to our unique business model that gives our customers more choice and more control over their designs as well as access to the widest range of licensable cores in the industry," said Bourgoin. "MIPS Technologies' network of MIPS community members enables complete system-on-chip solutions providing, apart from MIPS-based hardware, the design services, tool chains, manufacturing support, and software applications. The results are leading-edge products that meet demanding requirements in highly competitive markets."

Gartner/Dataquest forecasts strong worldwide growth for the semiconductor IP (intellectual property) market, which is growing at a rate well above the overall semiconductor market. In 2000, it increased 40 percent to $690 million, and Japan was the second largest consumer of semiconductor IP after North America.

"By leveraging Synopsys' recently-announced DesignWare Star IP program, MIPS Technologies is optimizing next-generation SoC design for Japanese customers by providing IP that is easy to access, evaluate and implement," said Kimio Fujii, president of Synopsys' Japan affiliate, Nihon Synopsys KK. "MIPS Technologies' long history of delivering innovative products has led to their expanded presence and continued success within the Japanese marketplace."

"NEC is very pleased with MIPS Technologies' new office opening in Japan," said Yuichi Kawakami, general manager of the Microcomputer Division, NEC Electron Devices, NEC Corp. "In addition to our long-term partnership with MIPS Technologies for leading-edge 64-bit microprocessors based on the industry-standard MIPS architecture, we look forward to expanding our business activity to include system-on-chip solutions as well as CPUs."

"We welcome the opening of the new MIPS Technologies sales and support office. The move is in perfect accordance with Toshiba's MIPS-based SOC strategy," said Toshinori Moriyasu general manager of Toshiba Corporation's semiconductor company, microprocessor division. "Together with the team of professionals at MIPS Technologies B.V., we can enhance our support efforts and help our customers realize differentiated system solutions."

"For more than a decade, Japanese semiconductor companies have valued our flexible technology and business model, such as synthesizable cores and the ISA licensing option, to create innovative products based on 32- and 64-bit MIPS technology," said George Nakagami, Japan country manager for MIPS Technologies B.V. "We look forward to improving upon our strong track record and capitalizing on the opportunities that lie ahead in Japan."

MIPS Technologies B.V. is located at Landic Toranomon Building No. 2, 3-7-8 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0001. Phone: +81 (3) 5733-9544.

About MIPS Technologies
MIPS Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer and network applications. The company drives the broadest architectural alliance that is delivering 32- and 64-bit embedded RISC solutions. The company licenses its intellectual property to semiconductor companies, ASIC developers and system OEMs. MIPS Technologies and its licensees offer the widest range of robust, scalable processors in standard, custom, semi-custom and application-specific products. The company is based in Mountain View, Calif., and can be reached at +1 (650) 567-5000 or www.mips.com.

MIPS® is a registered trademark and MIPS64[tm], MIPS32[tm] and MIPS-based[tm] are trademarks of MIPS Technologies, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks referred to herein are the property of their respective owners.