Infineon now ranks number 8 worldwide in the semiconductor industry - Up two places from number 10 in 1998

Munich, Germany, April 13, 2000 - Infineon Technologies’ strategy of growth, productivity increase and focus on fast growing market segments turns out to be successful. The company now ranks number 8 worldwide among semiconductor vendors according to the final annual 1999 Dataquest report. Infineon increased its sales by 33.6% and is now the highest ranked European company in the semiconductor industry. In 1998 Infineon held position 10 in the ranking coming from a number 19 position in 1993. Thanks to its globalization strategy, Infineon grew extraordinarily in the Asia Pacific region where the company was ranked number 10 with a 68.3% sales increase, up five places from the previous year.

In total, the Asia Pacific region was the largest growth region with a 31.7% increase in 1999, a 24.9% share of the total world market. In Europe, Infineon Technologies remained number 2 among world-wide vendors with a 17.7% increase from 1998‘s final revenue while the semiconductor market in Europe grew 12.7% in 1999. In the U.S.A. Infineon was ranked number 13, up three places from 1998.

“In comparison to the industry average, Infineon benefited to a greater extent from significantly improved productivity and from the general upswing in the semiconductor industry. We further strengthened our position in less cyclical semiconductor markets, notably in the communications business, and established a stable earnings stream by making our product portfolio even more well-balanced,” said Dr. Ulrich Schumacher, President and CEO of Infineon Technologies AG.

After three years of low or negative growth, in 1999 the semiconductor industry reached a 19% growth with a record revenue of US $ 149 billion overshadowing the previous record from 1995 of US $ 144 billion (source: World Semiconductor Trade Statistics).

Productivity increase plays a vital role in Infineon’s mission to provide leading edge products world-wide. To enhance this development, Infineon recently announced the commencement of a 300mm semiconductor module at the existing location in Dresden. Using 300mm process technology, Infineon plans to significantly reduce the costs per chip and considers mass production in 300 millimeters to be an important factor for competitive semiconductor production. Approximately two-and-a-half times as many chips can be produced on these larger wafers with this new technology compared with the 200mm technology.

Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor solutions for applications in the wireless and wired communications markets, for the automotive and industrial sectors, for security systems and chip cards as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, and in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore. In the fiscal year 1999 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 4.24 billion (US $ 4.51 billion) with about 26,000 employees worldwide. The company is listed on the main market segment (Amtlicher Handel) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and at the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX).

Further information at www.infineon.com


Any statements in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties; actual results may differ from the forward-looking statements. Infineon Technologies undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.