Infineon Wins Bavarian State Award for Electric Mobility

Neubiberg, Germany – October 20, 2010 – Infineon Technologies has won the Bavarian State Award for Electric Mobility. Martin Zeil, Bavarian Minister of Economics, Infrastructure, Transport and Technology, presented the award to Peter Bauer, CEO of Infineon Technologies AG, yesterday evening. The ceremony at which the awards were conferred in altogether seven categories was held alongside the eCarTec International Trade Fair for Electric Mobility in Munich. The award went to Infineon in the “Drive Technology” category for the company’s microcontrollers ensuring smooth and hence efficient operation of the motor in electric bicycles, the so-called e-bikes. In addition, Infineon was also nominated for its active battery balancing solution in the “ Storage Technology/System Integration” category.

“Infineon’s microcontrollers form the centerpiece of the drive in the e-bike. In 2009, some 25 million e-bikes were sold in China, the world’s largest nation of cyclists. About every third e-bike incorporates chips from Infineon”, said Peter Bauer, CEO of Infineon Technologies AG. “The Bavarian State Award for Electric Mobility is recognition of our work. It underlines that mobility and the responsible use of resources are of the greatest relevance to society – all the more reason for our delight at this accolade.”

E-bikes are a strong growth market; Infineon is market leader

Within only three years, Infineon has carved out an approximately one-third global market share with 8-bit microcontrollers of the XC800 family in electric-powered bicycles. Since 2008, some 15 million e-bikes controlled by Infineon components have been sold around the world. Apart from the Asian market, the European market also holds enormous growth potential. Market experts expect to see the number of e-bikes sold annually in Europe more than doubling from the present figure of less than 2 million units to about 4 million in the year 2013.

Infineon’s chips are instrumental in reducing the cost of the drive and electronics in the e-bike and in boosting the energy efficiency of the overall system. The XC800 family enables Field Oriented Control (FOC) and hence smooth, efficient operation of the motor. Infineon’s 8-bit microcontrollers deliver the performance of larger and more expensive 16-bit and 32-bit chips. These features are pivotal in the very small and cost-critical drives for e-bikes.

Infineon also nominated for the Bavarian State Award for Electric Mobility in the “Storage Technology/System integration” category

Another Infineon innovation was nominated for the Bavarian State Award for Electric Mobility in the “Storage Technology/System Integration” category: active battery balancing. This solution equalizes the highly disparate behavior of the over one hundred single cells of a battery during charging and discharging to extend the battery’s capacity, range and life by more than ten percent.

Further information

Information on the eCarTec Trade Fair for Electric Mobility and the Bavarian State Award is available at: http://www.ecartec.eu/. Infineon presents its electromobility offering at booth 429 in hall B6.

Information on Infineon’s activities surrounding electric mobility is provided at: http://www.infineon.com/electromobility

Infineon Technologies AG, Neubiberg, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions addressing three central challenges to modern society: energy efficiency, mobility and security. In the 2009 fiscal year (ending September), the company reported sales of Euro 3.03 billion with approximately 25,650 employees worldwide. With a global presence, Infineon operates through its subsidiaries in the U.S. from Milpitas, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore, and in Japan from Tokyo. Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX) and in the USA on the over-the-counter market OTCQX International Premier (ticker symbol: IFNNY).