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RF Micro Devices Announces Production Shipments to BenQ

Posted on: Thursday, 30 October 2003, 06:00 CST

GREENSBORO, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 2003--RF Micro Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq: RFMD), a leading provider of proprietary radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) for wireless communications applications, today announced production shipments of the RF3140 PowerStar(TM) power amplifier module to BenQ, a leading handset Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) based in Taiwan. The handset is being manufactured for a leading handset Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and is available globally. Production shipments are ramping and are expected to reach the multi-million dollar level.

The dual-band GSM handset (GSM 900 MHz / GSM 1800 MHz) features a WAP browser, LCD display screen, downloadable logos and ring tones as well as a calendar, scheduler and games. The handset provides up to 190 hours of standby time and up to three and-a-half hours of talk time.

Irwin Chen, BenQ VP and GM of Networking and Communications Business Group, said, "This BenQ phone design offers customers advanced features at an affordable price and in a small form factor. RF Micro Devices' RF3140 power amplifier module is an essential component in this handset due to its integrated power control, which enables us to reduce resources and accelerate the delivery of this handset design to our OEM customers."

Eric Creviston, corporate vice president of wireless products at RF Micro Devices, said, "We are very pleased to provide BenQ with an innovative PA solution that helps them reduce the cost and size of their handset design while helping them to accelerate it to market. We value our relationship with BenQ and look forward to increasing our shipments to BenQ this fall and in Calendar 2004."

RFMD is the market leader in PAs and is a supplier to all of the world's major handset manufacturers. In June 2003, RF Micro Devices was recognized by Gartner Dataquest as the industry's number one PA supplier by revenue, in a report entitled, "Wireless Communications Semiconductor Competitive Market Shares for 2002."

RFMD's PowerStar products are the world's best-selling PA modules with integrated power control and have generated approximately $150 million in revenue since RFMD first introduced PowerStar products in September 2001. PowerStar PA modules eliminate the need for directional couplers, detector diodes, power control ASICs and other power control circuitry, while providing handset manufacturers the key benefits of reduced component count, improved production yield, simplified phone calibration and faster time-to-market. PowerStar PA modules utilize RFMD's patent-pending collector control method of power control, which is the industry's leading method of integrated power control for GSM PAs. Unlike other methods of power control, such as current sensing and power detect, collector control requires no external components and demonstrates minimum variation across temperature, frequency and voltage. RFMD's PowerStar product family includes the first-generation triple-band RF3110, the second-generation quad-band RF3133 and quad-band RF3140 and the third-generation quad-band RF3146, which is designed using RFMD's patent-pending Lead Frame Module(TM) packaging technology.

RF Micro Devices, Inc., an ISO 9001- and ISO 14001-certified manufacturer, designs, develops, manufactures and markets proprietary RFICs primarily for wireless communications products and applications such as cellular and PCS phones, base stations, WLANs, and cable television modems. The Company offers a broad array of products - including amplifiers, mixers, modulators/demodulators, and single-chip receivers, transmitters and transceivers - representing a substantial majority of the RFICs required in wireless subscriber equipment. The Company's goal is to be the premier supplier of low-cost, high-performance integrated circuits and solutions for applications that enable wireless connectivity. RF Micro Devices, Inc. is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol RFMD. For more information about RFMD, please visit www.rfmd.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that relate to RF Micro Devices' plans, objectives, estimates and goals. Words such as "expects,""anticipates,""intends,""plans,""projects,""believes," and "estimates," and variations of these words and similar expressions, identify these forward-looking statements. RF Micro Devices' business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including variability in quarterly operating results, the rate of growth and development of wireless markets, risks associated with the operation of wafer fabrication, molecular beam epitaxy and test, tape and reel facilities and the Company's conversion from four-inch to six-inch wafer manufacturing, its ability to manage rapid growth and to attract and retain skilled personnel, variability in production yields, its ability to control and reduce costs and improve gross margins on highly integrated products, dependence on a limited number of customers and dependence on third parties. These and other risks and uncertainties, which are described in more detail in RF Micro Devices' most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual results and developments to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any of these forward-looking statements.

RF MICRO DEVICES(R), RFMD(R), PowerStar(TM) and Lead Frame Module(TM) are trademarks of RFMD, LLC.

All other tradenames, trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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