STMicroelectronics Ships More Than 10 Million XM Satellite Radio Baseband Decoders to Radio Manufacturers

STMicroelectronics Ships More Than 10 Million XM Satellite Radio Baseband Decoders to Radio Manufacturers

GENEVA, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) announced today that the Company has now shipped approximately ten and half million XM Satellite Radio baseband decoders to XM's radio manufacturers. These System-on-Chip (SoC) products integrate all the specific functions needed to manufacture an XM Radio receiver. The 10.5 million XM Radio decoders have been delivered to equipment manufacturers including Delphi and Pioneer, for vehicle, portable, and home radio receivers.

Shipments of the first XM baseband decoders began in the second half of 2001, when the function was integrated into two custom devices (a channel decoder and source decoder) in a 0.25-micron process technology. Around 2.5 million of these kits were delivered followed by nearly 4 million kits in 0.18-micron technology. And for more than a year now, ST has been shipping the single-chip XM baseband decoder, a monolithic device based upon a 0.13-micron process. This product recently passed the remarkable target of 4 million units shipped.

"This milestone is very important for both STMicroelectronics and XM, and it indicates strong demand throughout the supply chain for XM's digital satellite radio service," said Ugo Carena, ST Corporate VP and General Manager of ST's Automotive Products Group. "As the sole supplier of XM Baseband Decoders, right from the very beginning, ST is proud to be part of this highly successful business, and will continue its strong contribution to XM's outstanding growth by extending its portfolio of products dedicated to XM receivers, including a monolithic front-end IC and a multifunction system microcontroller."

"STMicroelectronics has been a strong supporter of XM Radio with its on- time shipments of huge quantities of world-class quality chips," said XM President and CEO Hugh Panero. "This has been a critical factor in XM radio receivers becoming the huge success that they are today."

ST is now starting deliveries of an innovative 'System-in Package' based product using the Company's core know-how in both logic -- and radio-frequency -- based technologies. This combination allows ST to condense the complex functions of the XM receiver into highly integrated components, which strongly contributes to the reduction of size and cost of the end-user radios.

About XM Satellite Radio

XM Satellite Radio is America's number one satellite radio service with more than 5 million subscribers. Broadcasting live daily from studios in Washington, DC, New York City and Nashville at the Country Music Hall of Fame, XM's 2005 lineup includes more than 150 digital channels of choice from coast to coast: the most commercial-free music channels, plus premier sports, talk, comedy, children's and entertainment programming; and 21 channels of the most advanced traffic and weather information. XM was named Best Radio Service at the 2004 Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards.

XM, the leader in satellite-delivered entertainment and data services for the automobile market through partnerships with General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan, Porsche, and Volkswagen/Audi, is available in more than 120 different vehicle models for 2005. XM's industry-leading products are available at consumer electronics retailers nationwide. For more information about XM hardware, programming and partnerships, please visit http://www.xmradio.com/.

About STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics is a global leader in developing and delivering semiconductor solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics applications. An unrivalled combination of silicon and system expertise, manufacturing strength, Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio and strategic partners positions the Company at the forefront of System-on-Chip (SoC) technology and its products play a key role in enabling today's convergence markets. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, on Euronext Paris and on the Milan Stock Exchange. In 2004, the Company's net revenues were $8.76 billion and net earnings were $601 million. Further information on ST can be found at http://www.st.com/.

Source: STMicroelectronics

CONTACT: Michael Markowitz of STMicroelectronics, +1-212-821-8959,
michael.markowitz@st.com

Web site: http://www.st.com/
http://www.xmradio.com/

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