SAN JOSE, Calif. and SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 26, 2001 - Xilinx, Inc.(NASDAQ: XLNX), the leader in programmable logic solutions, and UMC (NYSE: UMC), a world leading semiconductor foundry, today announced that Xilinx has produced its Virtex II chips on 300-mm wafers at UMC's Fab 12A using the foundry's 0.15um logic technology. The wafers have already demonstrated better yields than their 200-mm equivalents, signifying the maturity of the manufacturing process and allowing Xilinx to more quickly realize the improved cost benefits associated with the larger wafers. Along with UMC's Trecenti Technologies in Japan, Fab 12A is the second UMC 300-mm facility to produce chips for Xilinx, in line with Xilinx's strategy to move a larger portion of the company's programmable logic products to the more advanced manufacturing platform.

"We have been working closely with Xilinx to aggressively develop our 300-mm capabilities," said Robert Tsao, Chairman of UMC. "The impressive efficiency and yields seen at Fab 12A prove that we have mastered the learning curve for this advanced manufacturing. Xilinx was the first FPGA vendor to utilize 300-mm at our Trecenti fab, and we are happy to be working with our long-time partner for the manufacture of their Virtex- II FPGA platform at our Fab 12A facility as well."

300-mm wafers yield as much as 2.5 times the die as 200-mm, with the ratio of obtainable chips increasing as die size gets larger. With the inherently larger die size associated with FPGA's, Xilinx stands to gain significant cost benefits from manufacturing their products on 300-mm wafers.

"Our partnership with UMC in developing leading edge process technologies is a key component in our position as the market leader," said Wim Roelandts, Xilinx president and CEO.

"The cost optimization benefits of 300-mm wafers will ultimately benefit all our customers by making Xilinx the lowest cost producer of Programmable Logic Devices."

Xilinx is the leading supplier of complete programmable logic solutions, including advanced integrated circuits, software design tools, predefined system functions delivered as cores, and unparalleled field engineering support. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Xilinx invented the field programmable gate array (FPGA) and fulfills more than half of the world demand for these devices today. Xilinx solutions enable customers to reduce significantly the time required to develop products for the computer, peripheral, telecommunications, networking, industrial control, instrumentation, aerospace, defense, low-power portable and consumer markets. For more information, visit the Xilinx web site at www.xilinx.com.