TOPPAN ANNOUNCES VOLUME PRODUCTION
OF NEXT-GENERATION RFID CHIP
Using total business solutions approach, Toppan selects Chartered and Macnica
as strategic partners for manufacturing of semiconductor industry's
first dual-band RFID chip with integrated antenna
JAPAN and SINGAPORE, July 8, 2003, Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. (TSE: TOPPAN PRINTING CO., LTD.) - one of
Japan's leading printing companies with diverse businesses in securities and cards, commercial printing, packaging,
industrial materials, electronics and business forms - is expected to begin volume production of a dual-band radio
frequency identification (RFID) chip with integrated antenna in December 2003. The next-generation RFID chip, named
T-Junction, will be manufactured in collaboration with Japan's Brilliant Technologies Company, a division company of
Macnica, Inc. (TSE: MACNICA, INC.), which has been sub-contracted by Toppan to provide full-service turnkey solutions,
and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing (Nasdaq: CHRT and SGX-ST: Chartered) as the foundry of choice. The parties
are finalizing the terms of the manufacturing agreement.
With RFID attracting broad interest from many industries for its potential as the next-generation information processing
and data storage medium, Toppan's strategy is to provide companies with the complete suite of services and solutions
required to bring final RFID products to market through a cost-effective business model. As required, Toppan is committed
to collaborating with customers to provide full systems-integration services, which include RFID hardware and software
configuration and integration for the T-Junction chip, as well as full-service turnkey solutions for manufacturing, test,
assembly and packaging through its extensive strategic alliances network.
Toppan's T-Junction chip was developed by Japan's Telemidic Ltd., which holds the design patent and provided Toppan with
exclusive rights to manufacture and sell the RFID chip under a technology licensing agreement. It is the semiconductor
industry's first dual-frequency design that accommodates the Japan waveband standard of 2.45GHz, and the U.S.- and
Europe-preferred 800 to 950MHz frequency-range. The on-chip integration of the antenna is another design breakthrough by
Toppan's T-Junction chip, which is expected to streamline chip manufacturing and packaging, and enable smaller-sized
devices and lower product cost. The T-Junction chip is targeted for use in wireless device tags across a wide variety of
applications, including supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), amusement applications,
micro-payment and security.
"The RFID market in Japan is still at its early stage of growth; and we are observing keen competition among companies
that has been centered on technical performance," said Takeshi Toyama, Senior Managing Director of the Corporate Planning
Division at Toppan. "We believe that the T-Junction chip has superior performance in that it addresses the needs of a wide
variety of consumer applications to accommodate both the 2.45GHz frequency waveband used in Japan and the 800 to
950MHz - radio frequency platforms adopted in the United States and Europe. We are also excited that the 'Ubiquitous ID
Center,' Japan's standardization organization, has endorsed the T-Junction chip as the standard for RFID chip performance."
Toyama added, "Our collaboration with Chartered and Macnica is based on an innovative business model designed to provide
customers with a total business solutions from systems integration to chip manufacturing. This collaboration allows Toppan
to deliver cost-effective RFID solutions to our customers, thus supporting their need to be cost competitive when serving
the end consumer market in the global market place."
For chip manufacturing, Toppan selected Chartered, one of the world's top three dedicated semiconductor foundries, as the
sole source for volume production utilizing Chartered's baseline 0.35-micron EEPROM process integrated with RF passive
components. Toppan will also outsource turnkey management of production, assembly and quality control for the T-Junction
chip to Macnica, Japan's leading technology service provider for design-in and product development, product planning,
logistics and technology support.
"The RFID market is an exciting new arena for our process offerings targeting advanced system-on-chip applications, and
Chartered is honored to have a key role in bringing Toppan's innovative T-Junction chip to market," said Makoto Kawakami,
Vice President and General Manager of Chartered Japan. "We are working closely with both Toppan and Macnica to help them
fully leverage our RF systems knowledge and production-proven manufacturing platform. We believe that this collaboration
reinforces Chartered's position as a preferred provider of complete manufacturing solutions to meet the volume demands of
our customers."
Chiaki Komiya, President of Brilliant Technologies Company, commented, "The advent of the RFID market changes the
conventional nature of semiconductor product development and the supply chain infrastructure. It encourages a much more
interactive paradigm between fabless chip companies, semiconductor distributors and pure-play foundries. We believe that
our three-way relationship with Toppan and Chartered reflects the level of collaboration needed to ensure that market
expansion initiatives are successful."
Availability
Toppan expects early prototypes to be available in August 2003. Initial shipments are targeted for customers in Japan.
Volume production is expected to begin in December 2003 for shipments to the global marketplace.
About Toppan
Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. is one of the largest printing companies in the world, established in Japan in 1900, with sales
of over 9.8 billion dollars. The seed of printing and prepress technology has branched out into a variety of areas of
business including: securities and smart cards, commercial printing, publications printing, packaging, industrial
materials, electronics, and e-business. The Electronics Division of Toppan Printing manufactures electronic components by
using photofabrication technology, which has been developed in plate making technology. Toppan products are used in
semiconductor devices such as photomasks, leadframes and substrates for BGA. Toppan also supplies shadow masks for CRTs
and color filters for LCDs display devices. Information about Toppan can be found at www.toppan.co.jp.
About Chartered
Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, one of the world's top three dedicated semiconductor foundries, is forging a customized approach
to outsourced semiconductor manufacturing by building lasting and collaborative partnerships with its customers. The Company
provides flexible and cost-effective manufacturing solutions for customers, enabling the convergence of communications, computing
and consumer markets. In Singapore, Chartered operates five fabrication facilities and has a sixth fab, which will be developed
as a 300mm facility.
A company with both global presence and perspective, Chartered is traded on both the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq: CHRT) and on
the Singapore Exchange (SGX-ST: CHARTERED). Chartered's 3,500 employees are based at 11 locations around the world. Information
about Chartered can be found at www.charteredsemi.com.
About Macnica, Inc.
Since its establishment in 1972, Macnica Inc. has specialized in the supply of a wide variety of high-value-added electronic parts and equipment, particularly semiconductors, to the electronics, information and communications industries. The company is justly known as a leader in the high-technology fields in which they operate. In recent years, Macnica has expanded its lineup to provide in-depth technical support to customers in addition to the supply of devices. Macnica intends to increase its ability to propose total solution for turnkey services.
The company is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and has its headquarters in Yokohama. Its subsidiaries are located in
Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, Singapore and the USA.
Brilliant Technologies Company is a division company of Macnica, Inc. Information about Macnica can be found at www.macnica.co.jp.
Chartered Safe Harbour Statement under the provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This news release may contain forward-looking statements, as defined in the safe harbour provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect Chartered's current views
with respect to future events, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results
to differ materially from historical results or those anticipated. Among the factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially are : changes in market outlook and trends; the rate of semiconductor market recovery; economic
conditions in Japan, the United States as well as globally; customer demands; the successful implementation of our
collaboration with Toppan and Macnica; the performance level in our fabrication facilities and competition. Although
we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we
can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained. In addition to the foregoing factors, a description
of certain other risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially can be found in the
section captioned "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are based on
the current view of management on future events. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
