Infineon Announces Industry's First Hard Disk Drive Read-Channel Chip Produced Using 0.13-Micron Process Technology. Data Rate Performance Increase of 40 Percent
Munich, Germany July 24, 2002 Infineon Technologies (FSE/NYSE: IFX) today announced that it is sampling the industrys first hard-disk drive read-channel integrated circuit (IC) implemented in 0.13-micron process technology. Designed to achieve data transfer rates on a disk drive of 1.6 Gigabits per second under worst case conditions, the new read channels will help drive manufacturers keep pace with market demand for faster high-density drives used in enterprise data storage systems.
Read channel ICs perform a critical function in translating the information encoded on magnetic hard disks into digital bits of data. With the new read channel, Infineon combines more than four and one half years of hard disk read channel development experience and its advanced manufacturing technology to produce a read channel with data rate performance 40 percent greater than currently available components.
In the late 90s Infineon was a substantial player in the HDD semiconductor industry, said Alex Stuart, Research Director, Semiconductors, IDC. Last year, Infineon was out of the market due to a major technology migration, so it is interesting to see that the company is now sampling a 0.13 micron read channel technology ahead of the leaders in the market. The real significance of this announcement is twofold: first, it positions the company as a serious participant in the system-on-chip business over the next few years and, secondly, it reaffirms Infineons commitment to this marketplace.
The disk drive industrys requirements for leading-edge technology supported by high-volume manufacturing capability make this an excellent market for Infineon, said Adam Andersen, Vice President, Infineon Technologies North America Corp.
With this new read channel IC, we demonstrate our commitment to provide drive manufacturers with the technology they need to maintain the pace of innovation that has made this one of the most dynamic segments of the information technology business.
First silicon was specifically developed for a strategic enterprise customer and is currently being integrated into drives. Infineon will release general engineering samples of the 0.13-micron read channel to qualified customers in the fall of this year, and plans to ramp production to support disk drive designs reaching market in the first half of 2003.
Read channel ICs perform a critical function in translating the information encoded on magnetic hard disks into digital bits of data. With the new read channel, Infineon combines more than four and one half years of hard disk read channel development experience and its advanced manufacturing technology to produce a read channel with data rate performance 40 percent greater than currently available components.
In the late 90s Infineon was a substantial player in the HDD semiconductor industry, said Alex Stuart, Research Director, Semiconductors, IDC. Last year, Infineon was out of the market due to a major technology migration, so it is interesting to see that the company is now sampling a 0.13 micron read channel technology ahead of the leaders in the market. The real significance of this announcement is twofold: first, it positions the company as a serious participant in the system-on-chip business over the next few years and, secondly, it reaffirms Infineons commitment to this marketplace.
The disk drive industrys requirements for leading-edge technology supported by high-volume manufacturing capability make this an excellent market for Infineon, said Adam Andersen, Vice President, Infineon Technologies North America Corp.
With this new read channel IC, we demonstrate our commitment to provide drive manufacturers with the technology they need to maintain the pace of innovation that has made this one of the most dynamic segments of the information technology business.
Availability
First silicon was specifically developed for a strategic enterprise customer and is currently being integrated into drives. Infineon will release general engineering samples of the 0.13-micron read channel to qualified customers in the fall of this year, and plans to ramp production to support disk drive designs reaching market in the first half of 2003.
About Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for applications in the wired and wireless communications markets, for security systems and smartcards, for the automotive and industrial sectors, as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In the fiscal year 2001 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 5.67 billion with about 33,800 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at www.infineon.com.
Information Number
INFMP200207.127 e