Magma's QuickCap NX Extractor Available for
UMC's Deep Submicron Technologies

Collaboration expanded to include power management and statistical static timing analysis solutions for power- and performance-optimized IC designs

DesignCon, SANTA CLARA, Calif. - January 31, 2005 - Magma Design Automation Inc. (Nasdaq: LAVA), a provider of chip design solutions, and world-leading semiconductor foundry UMC (NYSE: UMC; TSE: 2303), today announced that Magma's QuickCap NX extractor tool has been validated on UMC's 0.13-micron process. As a result of this validation, UMC has adopted QuickCap NX for device and interconnect parasitic extractions and will also use the tool for modeling new process characteristics such as OPC-bias, CMP and Trapezoidal wires.

The two companies have also collaborated to provide power management and statistical static timing analysis solutions based on Magma's Blast Create^TM, Blast Plan^TM Pro, Blast Fusion, Blast Power^TM and QuickCap NX software for UMC's 90-nanometer (nm) and below technologies. The methodologies allow mutual customers to more confidently integrate their architectures into system-on-chip (SoC) designs. This ensures that customers of UMC will be able to develop ICs with the lowest power while optimizing speed and area.

"Working with EDA leaders such as Magma continues to enable UMC to offer the SoC resources our customers need to design complex system-on-chip ICs more quickly to confidently achieve silicon success," said Ken Liou, director of the IP & Design Support division at UMC. "The combination of Magma's EDA expertise, along with UMC's advanced manufacturing processes, brings a more predictable and smoother flow capability to our customers designing complex SoCs at 90nm and beyond. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Magma for future EDA solutions."

"We understand that IC designers need the greatest confidence possible that their complex designs are manufacturable before they hand them off to the foundry," said Michael Ma, vice president, Foundry and IP Relationships for Magma. "Our verified collaboration with UMC, a "Magma Ties" foundry partner, allows engineers to reduce uncertainty, time to market and cost for advanced process IC architectures. We're delighted to provide Magma customers with a complete supply chain solution that combines UMC's advanced processes with Magma's integrated RTL-to-GDSII design solution."

About UMC
UMC (NYSE: UMC, TSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that manufactures advanced process ICs for applications spanning every major sector of the semiconductor industry. UMC delivers cutting-edge foundry technologies that enable sophisticated system-on-chip (SoC) designs, including 90nm copper, 0.13um copper, and mixed signal/RFCMOS. UMC is also a leader in 300mm manufacturing; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based UMCi are both in volume production for a variety of customer products. UMC employs over 10,500 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.

About Magma Design Automation
Magma provides leading software for designing highly complex integrated circuits while maximizing Quality of Results with respect to area, timing and power, and at the same time reducing overall design cycles and costs. Magma provides a complete RTL-to-GDSII design flow that includes prototyping, synthesis, place & route, and signal and power integrity chip design capabilities in a single executable, offering "The Fastest Path from RTL to Silicon"^TM. Magma's software also includes products for advanced physical synthesis and architecture development tools for programmable logic devices (PLDs); capacitance extraction; and characterization and modeling. The company's stock trades on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LAVA. Visit Magma Design Automation on the Web at www.magma-da.com.

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Magma, Blast Fusion and QuickCap are registered trademarks, and Blast Create, Blast Plan Pro, Blast Power and "The Fastest Path from RTL to Silicon" are trademarks, of Magma Design Automation. All other products and trademarks are property of their respective owners.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements that Magma's extraction provides accurate timing correlation between layout and silicon and shortens design cycles and about the features and benefits of Magma's system and UMC's process technology, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially including, but not limited to, Magma's and UMC's decision to continue working together, abilities to keep pace with rapidly changing technology and each company's products abilities to produce desired results. Further discussion of these and other potential risk factors may be found in Magma's latest filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on form 10-K, and any subsequent updates thereto on form10-Q. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Magma disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

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