October 18, 2010

TOKYO, Japan, SANTA CLARA, Calif., October 18, 2010 — Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), a premier provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, and Link_A_Media Devices Corporation (LAMD) today announced that they plan to extend their successful strategic HDD (hard disk drive) system-on-chips (SoCs) partnership into the next generation SoCs for both the HDD and solid state drive (SSD) storage markets. Since the start of the partnership in 2005, LAMD has developed and shipped HDD controller SoCs through the former NEC Electronics' advanced manufacturing processes.

“We are delighted to extend our partnership with Renesas Electronics to deliver SoC solutions to the HDD and SSD markets. Since the merger between NEC Electronics and Renesas Technology in April, 2010, the new company, Renesas Electronics, is the 3rd largest semiconductor company in the world (based on CY2009 revenues) and can provide LAMD unprecedented access to leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing processes and one of the broadest portfolios of intellectual property functions (IP) in the industry.” said Dr. Hemant Thapar, Chief Executive Officer, Link_A_Media Devices Corporation.

“Link_A_Media Devices' SoC designs have been well received by the storage customers,” stated Mr. Kazuyoshi Yamada, senior vice president, Renesas Electronics Corporation. “The combination of their technologies with Renesas Electronics' advanced manufacturing process technologies will enable us to offer their customers even more compelling solutions.”

In recent years, information storage needs have skyrocketed with the increase in digital content such as music and video, reflected in the growing demand for higher capacity storage across all form factors. According to the reports from IDC, a leading provider of global IT search and advice, the number of HDD shipments is expected to continue growing from 557 million units in 2009 to over 811 million units in 2013, with the highest growth expected in personal storage and portable PCs (Note 1). IDC also expects the SSD market, although smaller, to grow overall from 2008-2013 at a 54 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), reaching 84 million units shipped in 2013 (Note 2).

To address these large markets, Renesas Electronics and LAMD have been collaborating on SoCs based on LAMD's leading low density parity check (LDPC) Error Correction Coding (ECC), and Data Recovery technologies and Renesas Electronics' advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes and standard IP blocks. These technologies enable increased noise immunity in data detection, higher format efficiency, and improved drive yields along with lowered power consumption. By combining these SoC technologies with LAMD's emerging shingled write recording technology, HDD OEMs can significantly increase the densities needed to meet the aggressive storage capacity growth requirements.

By extending the strategic partnership, Renesas Electronics and LAMD aim to continue to offer superior products to meet the demands of the HDD and SSD markets, and continue to develop innovative solutions to address the growing needs of this market.

(Note 1) Source, IDC, Worldwide Hard Disk Drive 2010–2014 Forecast: Die-Hard Markets Drive Steady Growth, Doc.# 223412, June 2010.

(Note 2) Source, IDC, Worldwide Solid State Drive 2009–2013 Forecast Update, #221415, December 2009.

About Link_A_Media Devices Corporation

Link_A_Media Devices is a leader in the development of semiconductor SoC solutions for the data storage market. Its mixed signal processing and iterative data recovery technologies enable hard disk drive (HDD) and solid-state drive (SSD) OEMs to increase storage density and reduce manufacturing costs. These advantages enable Link_A_Media Devices customers to continue to meet the growing demand for high-performance and low-cost data storage in consumer, computing and enterprise storage networking applications. For more information, visit www.link-a-media.com.

About Renesas Electronics Corporation

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723) delivers trusted embedded design innovation with complete semiconductor solutions that enable billions of connected, intelligent devices to enhance the way people work and live. A global leader in microcontrollers, analog, power and SoC products, Renesas provides comprehensive solutions for a broad range of automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT applications that help shape a limitless future. Learn more at renesas.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.


The content in the press release, including, but not limited to, product prices and specifications, is based on the information as of the date indicated on the document, but may be subject to change without prior notice.

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