PRESS RELEASES
STMicroelectronics Signs IC Development Agreement for Radio Frequency
Identification Market
STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) today announced it has signed an agreement with Alien Technology Corporation to collaborate on the development and manufacturing of integrated circuits (ICs) for ultra-low cost radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.
Low-cost RFID systems will be instrumental in creating new supply chain, logistics, and authentica-tion solutions that will provide improved efficiency, accuracy, and security to major manufacturers, retailers, and their customers.
ST Microelectronics and Alien Technology are members of the Auto-ID Center, an industry consor-tium dedicated to creating and implementing next-generation automatic identification solutions, pri-marily RFID. The Center's members include The Gillette Company, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Pepsi, Pfizer, Coca Cola, Wal-Mart, Target, Tesco, Metro AG, UPS, and the US Post Office. The Center has created a new open specification, EPC Class 1, for RFID that is the basis for the companies' collaboration. Alien has developed the first IC that operates according to the EPC Class 1 specification.
"ST has a very high respect for the know-how accumulated by Alien's team of RF engineers over many years and its pioneering work with the Auto-ID Center," commented Claude Dardanne, General Manager of ST's EEPROM and Serial NVM Division, Memory Products Group. "Alien's expertise is an excellent complement to ST's knowledge, process technology and leadership in smart card and RFID ICs, in addition to its world-class manufacturing strengths. ST sees the potential of RFID to revolutionize many business processes, and is looking forward to working with Alien to develop prod-ucts in support of the Auto-ID Center's vision."
As part of the cooperation, Alien will make available to ST its RFID IC and system design experi-ence, and ST will provide RF engineering and IC development expertise, process technology and manufacturing capability. The goal of the collaboration is to design and produce an ultra-low cost, high-performance RFID IC that will ultimately cost less than a penny, establishing the two companies at the forefront of RFID technology development and deployment. The cooperation also includes a multi-year volume supply agreement between the companies. The first product associated with this agreement is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2004.
"As one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world, with extensive RF, analog and mixed signal IC design experience, ST will add a great deal of momentum to the adoption of EPC Class 1 RFID Technology by providing a reliable source of ICs," said Stav Prodromou, CEO of Alien Technology Corporation.
By establishing a second source for Alien Technology's EPC Class 1 IC product, STMicroelectronics will support the growing market demand for RFID products created by Wal Mart's announcement for its top 100 suppliers to adopt RFID technology by 2005. In addition, Alien will partner with ST to meet its own customer requirements for RFID product.
ST will be on booth #616 at the Frontline International Supply Chain Week Expo, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL., this week from September 15 to 18, 2003.
About STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics is a global leader in developing and delivering semiconductor
solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics applications. An unrivalled
combination of silicon and system exper-tise, manufacturing strength, Intellectual
Property (IP) portfolio and strategic partners positions the Company at
the forefront of System-on-Chip (SoC) technology and its products play a
key role in enabling today's convergence markets. The Company's shares are
traded on the New York Stock Exchange, on Euronext Paris and on the Milan
Stock Exchange. In 2002, the Company's net rev-enues were $6.32 billion
and net earnings were $429.4 million. Further information on ST can be found
at www.st.com.
About Alien Technology
Alien Technology Corporation provides Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
products for global customers in government, retail, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals,
transportation, and other industries. Using its proprietary manufacturing
process, Fluidic Self Assembly (FSA®), Alien manufactures EPC tags in high-volumes
and at low cost. The company provides a family of RFID readers for a variety
of applications including supply chain management, logistics, and anti-counterfeiting,
to improve inventory management and reduce operating costs. Alien is an
active member of EPCglobal. More information about Alien Technology Corporation
can be found on the Company's website at www.alientechnology.com.
Alien, Alien Technology, the Alien logo and FSA, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Alien Technology Corporation in the United States and other countries.