Beijing, China and Carlsbad, CA - May 10, 2007 - Intel Capital, Intel Corporation's venture capital organization, today announced it signed agreement to invest in Phoenix Microelectronics, a fabless IC design house based in China providing next generation high capability smart storage controller ICs and intelligent SIM cards for mobile terminal devices. Subject to the satisfaction of various closing conditions, Intel Capital, Warburg Pincus and Synopsys will jointly invest in this Series B round. The deal highlights Intel's commitment to supporting the development of innovation in the IC industry in China.
The funds will be used to expand Phoenix's current operations by recruiting new talent, strengthening research capabilities, scaling production and manufacturing, and rolling out a marketing campaign. Phoenix Microelectronics' intelligent SIM cards have high capacity storage, allowing efficient management of subscribers by mobile operators and easy introduction and provisioning of value-added services, while providing end-users an effective platform to store, edit and manage all key data that can be easily moved to new terminals, as well as faster access to new services.
The announcement came during Intel Capital's CEO Summit, an annual conference bringing together executives of Intel Capital portfolio companies and global 2000 corporations, held this year at La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California.
"This potential investment in Phoenix Electronics demonstrates our commitment to encouraging local Chinese innovation," said Arvind Sodhani, President of Intel Capital. "We are committed to fostering entrepreneurship and increasing the technical capabilities and global competitiveness of Chinese technology companies."
"Phoenix has been leading the industry as a technology solutions provider. With research and customer service facilities in Beijing, Southern and Eastern China, we are in an ideal position to provide customers with tailor-made HD-SIM solutions," said Dr. Shaojun Wei, CEO, Phoenix Microelectronics, "This potential investment from Intel Capital will help us strengthen our operations and firm up our position in China's mobile telecom market."
"China is the largest mobile phone market in the world. By providing smart storage chip (SSC) with unique design SIM cards, Phoenix Microelectronics expects to be a key driver of next generation value-added services for the mobile operators," said Cadol Cheung, Managing Director, Intel Capital Asia Pacific. "With its technology innovation and its wholly-owned subsidiary OrienCard being one of the authorized SIM card providers in China, Phoenix is well positioned in the exploding mobile market."
Phoenix's primary product is smart storage chip. SSC-based HD-SIMs are high capacity SIM cards which enable a new architecture, combining traditional SIM card technology and high-capacity flash memory. The architecture utilizes a multi-chip module and SiP packaging to enable higher performance and capacity. Through the SSC smart card, mobile operators are able to promote value-added services while end users have the freedom to move all data stored to another handset.
Since beginning strategic investments in 1998, Intel Capital has played an active role in identifying, investing and growing outstanding technology start-ups and companies in China who are a driving force in expanding innovation and entrepreneurship.
About Phoenix Microelectronics
Phoenix Microelectronics is a High-Tech company, established by a leading international venture capital fund and an experienced management team in Sep. 2005.
As a company with who had developed their own intellectual properties, Phoenix provides integrated circuits, software, system solution, electronics products as well as services. The company concentrates on developing advanced SoC chips and application systems. The company's products focus on mobile storage, mobile multimedia and personal information terminals. The company's target is to become a global leading electronics product company with its expertise in IC design and software development.
The team has rich experience and expertise in microelectronics and telecommunication business operation. The R&D team is composed of experts and engineers with outstanding records, including core competencies in Mobile Multimedia, Storage Controller and Network Communication.
About Intel Capital
Intel Capital, Intel's venture capital organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, home, mobility, health, consumer Internet, semiconductor manufacturing, and cleantech. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$6 billion in approximately 1,000 companies in more than 40 countries. In that timeframe, about 157 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and another 187 have been acquired by other companies. In 2006, Intel Capital invested about US$1.07 billion in 163 deals with approximately 60 percent of funds (excluding Clearwire) invested outside the United States. For more information on Intel Capital and its differentiated advantages, visit www.intel.com/capital.
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