Tokyo and Chiba, Japan, Sep. 4th, 2002 - Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.（TSE:6703） together with UMC (NYSE: UMC) and UMC's Japan based subsidiary UMC Japan (UMCJ), today announced that the companies have reached a comprehensive business agreement for a long-term foundry partnership which also includes a design alliance for mutual IP development and availability.

Oki will align itself with UMC's process design rules and target parameters of transistor characteristics for the 0.15um process generation. The process is also compatible with each company's mask data level, which will allow Oki to utilize UMC/UMCJ's production capacity when needed to assure stable supply for large volume requirements or to respond to sudden increases in demand. For advanced 0.13um technology and beyond, the broadened foundry partnership will enable Oki to offer competitive system LSI products in a timely fashion and utilize UMC and UMCJ's advanced process technology. This will allow Oki to focus its investments and resources more effectively on developing system LSI products and design properties.

The design alliance aspect of the agreement incorporates OKI into UMC's Gold IP program as a Design Plussm partner. According to the agreement, OKI will evaluate its entire portfolio of strategic IPs such as Oki's ARM based integration platform and design environment, "µPLAT" for use on the foundry's advanced technologies, and will make available its design support and IP licensing service to UMC's foundry customers.

Mr. Katsuhiko Sano, President of Silicon Solutions Company at Oki Electric commented, "Broadening our long-term foundry partnership is one of Oki's system LSI development strategies. With this agreement, Oki will be able to deliver system LSI products to customers on time with a total service solution. This foundry agreement will also enable us to focus our resources more effectively on developing improved design environments."

John Hsuan, UMC Vice Chairman and CEO, said, "Oki will greatly increase its ability to deliver market winning products by concentrating its resources on LSI design and development while leveraging UMC's prowess in technology development and cost-efficient manufacturing. This move is historic in that it marks the first example of an IDM company in Japan moving towards the fabless business model that has proven so successful in the USA and other countries over the past decade. We are also extremely happy to offer Oki's extensive IP portfolio to our other foundry customers. This is definitely a win-win situation for UMC and Oki that has benefits for other companies in the industry as well."

Currently, UMCJ is producing 0.35um / 0.22um products for Oki.

Founded more than a century ago in 1881, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. is Japan's first telecommunications manufacturer, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. With more than 25,000 employees worldwide, Oki Electric provides customers with top-quality products and technologies for telecommunication systems, information systems and electronic devices. Visit Oki's global web site at http://www.oki.com/.

UMC Japan (UMCJ) is Japan's first and only dedicated-silicon foundry, which provides advanced technologies and semiconductor manufacturing for contract customer. The company is a subsidiary of Taiwan based UMC (United Microelectronics Corp.). Further information can be found at http://www.umcj.com/eng.