Taipei, Taiwan, October 08, 2001 -- WIN Semiconductors Corporation (WIN) has set another standard for the GaAs MMIC Foundry Service Industry by obtaining QS-9000 and ISO 9001 quality management system certification in less than one year since the start of the company's Fab operation. Certified by Underwriter's Laboratory, WIN is the first and only GaAs MMIC manufacturer in Taiwan and one of the first few 6-inch GaAs fabs in the world to accomplish such prestigious achievement.

This success reinforces WIN's goal in becoming the premier supplier of GaAs MMIC foundry services worldwide and is attributed to the relentless pursuit of quality management of the company. As pointed out by Dr. C.S. Wu, President and CEO, WIN has set many benchmarks and achieved many "first" in Taiwan, Asia, and the world. Adding QS-9000 and ISO 9001 quality management system certification underscores WIN's ability in the high-volume manufacturing of quality GaAs semiconductor devices and MMIC's. WIN's constant pursuit of perfection is reflected in providing high-quality products characterized by the employment of "Plan - Do - Check - Act" cycles for continuous improvement. Furthermore, WIN has shown its dedication in manufacturing innovation and technology development to provide a superior, compound semiconductor device and integrated circuit manufacturing foundry service.

The certification of WIN's GaAs fab is important because the QS-9000 standard contains the verbatim text of the ISO9001 standard. The QS-9000 standard has over 100 additional auditable requirements added to the ISO9001 Quality System. This certification demonstrates WIN's commitment to its quality policy "Quality is measured by customer satisfaction, and exists in the processes that achieve it."

At WIN, all processes, procedures, and policies were developed and documented in line with both the spirits and requirements of these quality certifications. And all employees are introduced to WIN's quality commitment and regularly receiving training from their first day at WIN.

The development of a quality management system, and the dual-certification of this system, within 12 months since the beginning of the wafer fabrication operation, is a tremendous milestone in the short history of WIN. It provides a solid proof of WIN's dedication in providing its customers with the highest possible quality in both products and services.

About QS-9000
QS-9000, the requirements of quality management system, was developed by General Motors, Ford and Chrysler with input from UL and other organizations. The QS-9000 quality requirements are based on the principles of ISO 9000 with additional requirements specific to the automobile and semiconductor industries. That provides for continuous improvement, emphasizing defect prevention and reduction of variation and waste in the supply chain. Companies whose facilities are registered to QS-9000 are also registered to the ISO 9001 or ISO 9002 quality assurance standard.

About WIN
WIN Semiconductors Corporation (WIN) was founded in October 1999 in recognition of the growing demand in low cost manufacturing of high speed and high quality III-V MMIC's (monolithic microwave ICs) and RFIC's (radio frequency ICs). The company provides dedicated foundry services to design as well as system houses. WIN supplies HBT (heterojunction bipolar transistor), pHEMT (pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor) and metamorphic HEMT (mHEMT) MMIC fabrication to the worldwide communication IC manufacturers using state-of-the-art GaAs (Gallium Arsenide) process technology. The company has established an advanced 6-inch GaAs MMIC wafer fab in Lin-Kou Hwaya Technology Park, Taoyuan, Taiwan.

WIN is the first, pure-play, 6" GaAs foundry house in the world. The company has developed Asia's first 6-inch, GaAs HBT and pHEMT MMIC wafers. WIN also successfully developed the world's first, 6-inch, 0.15um GaAs pHEMT MMIC wafer. The company has also produced wafers with a final thickness of 50um. In addition to these excellent technical achievements, WIN has gained market acceptance for its role as a provider of foundry services. Since the beginning of 2001, more than 80 companies have made contact with WIN. These customers include both Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDM) and fabless design houses. Many of these customers have completed second or third iteration development activities, and gradually ramped up production volume.