Oslo, Norway - October 5, 2005 - Nordic Semiconductor ASA (OSE: NOD) today announced that they have successfully developed an ASIC for Polar Electro Oy. The ASIC will go into a new intelligent sports equipment platform.
Intelligent sports equipment is one of Nordic's key focus markets and Nordic is constantly working on innovative technology to lower power consumption and cost, to further gain a foothold in this important market.
"We are very exited to be working with one of the market leaders within intelligent sports equipment", said Svenn-Tore Larsen, CEO for Nordic Semiconductor, "Polar's choice of using Nordic to help develop their new platform is further confirming our leadership within this segment.
"Nordic has competence in designing IC's for very low power and space limited applications. Cooperation with Nordic helps us to maintain our market leadership in sports instruments and heart rate monitoring equipment", says Janne Klemetti, IC-Design Manager, Polar Electro Oy.
About Polar Electro Oy
Polar Electro, founded in 1977, is the global pioneer of the heart rate monitoring category. Today, Polar continous as a leading brand and the true partner in improving health and well-being through the understanding of human physiology and environment. Moreover, Polar Electro is the world's leading manufacturer of sports instruments and heart rate monitoring, registering and evaluation equipment. Polar products represent the state of the art in heart rate measuring devices for athletic training, fitness, cycling, running, outdoor sports, rehabilitation and weight management.
Polar Electro concentrates on the development, production and marketing of sport instruments and heart rate monitoring equipment. Headquartered near Oulu in Finland, Polar Electro operates internationally in over 80 countries. The company has approximately 1600 employees internationally and net sales of 161,2 MEUR (year 2004). The main markets for Polar heart rate monitors are in Europe and North America.
About Nordic Semiconductor ASA
Founded in 1983, Nordic Semiconductor (former Nordic VLSI) has evolved steadily from the traditional ASIC design house into a leading European fabless semiconductor supplier. With world-class IC design expertise focused on RF/mixed-mode and advanced back-end/physical design capabilities, Nordic is currently marketing and selling three product families: a ground-breaking portfolio of standard components for wireless communication, high performance dataconverter IPs and custom design and manufacturing services (ASIC). With the ultra-compact 2.4GHz transceiver and transmitter families, nRF24XX, the company has established itself as a market leader within the wireless personal interface segment comprising applications such as gamepads, keyboard/mouse and sports equipment. Nordic's products are manufactured on ultra modern technologies through strong relationships with world leading manufacturing facilities and are sold through a worldwide distribution network. The company has offices in Trondheim and Oslo, Norway, as well as Hong Kong, and is listed on the Norwegian Stock Exchange (OSX: NOD). All operations are managed according to the ISO 9001:2000-approved quality assurance system.
