Det Norske Veritas Certification clears the way for 1st Silicon to supply the automotive industry

The letter of conformance acknowledges approval of 1st Silicon’s technical conformance in satisfactorily addressing the management system requirements identified in ISO/TS 16949:2002,an International Standard for Automotive Business Management Systems.

The formal accreditation and recognition issued by the certification body,Det Norske Veritas Certification,Inc., clears the way for 1st Silicon to serve the world’s automotive manufacturers with foundry services that conform to international standards.

1st Silicon is the first pure-play foundry in Malaysia to have achieved conformance for the automotive industry.

“Automakers are demanding greater numbers of devices to increase the performance,security,safety and comfort features in new vehicles.This accreditation is a key performance indicator to the automotive industry,”stated Chief Executive Officer, Dr. John Nelson.

“Automotive companies rely on suppliers that can demonstrate a high level of expertise and quality,” he continued.”With the recognition letter of conformance, 1st Silicon has proven itself to be among a select group of companies that are capable to serving this market and complying to its rules.This important milestone is the achievement of the entire 1st Silicon team. “

Dr.Nelson added,”We have achieved conformance in our automotive production data and management systems in line with our targeted timeframe.We will continue to provide high quality products in the challenging foundry industry by keeping our customers as our top priority.”

The letter of conformance is valid for a period of one year and will be re-evaluated in January 2007. When the results are deemed satisfactory at that time, an ISO/TS 16949:2002 certificate will be issued to 1st Silicon.

About 1st Silicon (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.(1Si)
1St Silicon (www.1Si.com) is one of the global semiconductor industry’s premier foundries dedicated to reliable, cost-effective manufacturing processes for high-volume system-on-chip(SoC)designs and innovative niche markets.1Si offers manufacturing services for embedded non-volatile and flash memories,high-voltage and mixed-signal technologies, CMOS image sensors and charged-couple devices (CCDs).These technologies are vital in automobiles, multimedia,displays,Internet-enabled applications,smart cards,and other market applications.Founded in 1998,1st Silicon is headquartered in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia and has offices in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the USA.