" Digital and Samsung Sign for Alliance on Alpha Microprocessor "

Maynard(Mass.)U.S.and Seoul, Korea - June 13, 1996

Digital Equipment Corporation and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. announced a definitive agreement forging an alliance to develop and support a high volume market for products based on Digital’s industry-leading 64-bit Alpha RISC architecture. No financial terms were disclosed.

The agreement licenses Samsung as an alternate source manufacturer of current and future implementation of Digital’s high-performance Alpha microprocessors. It is expected that Samsung will produce its first Alphachips in 1997. In addition, Samsung has a license to market, sell and distribute worldwide Alpha microprocessors, and under the agreement, Digital and Samsung will also engage in joint development projects related to the Alpha microprocessor family.

“We are extremely pleased to create this alliance with Samsung, one of the world’s leading electronics manufacturers,” said Robert Palmer, Chairman of Digital. “This alliance represents a significant endorsement of Digital’s Alpha architecture - the foundation of Digital’s global leadership in 64 bit computing. Digital has an important relationship with Samsung as a customer, partner and supplier and we expect this alliance to significantly strengthen the ties between the two companies.”

Yoon-Woo Lee, President & CEO of Semiconductor Business, Samsung Electronics, said, “The Alpha microprocessor was chosen for Samsung’s CPU business because of its many strengths , including the highest performance and efficient and outstanding architecture for the Windows NT operating system. “ And he added, “We will work hard jointly with Digital to build a solid teamwork and partnership . Specifically through the joint development program, we are sure that both companies can develop devices which have much better cost competitiveness and functional performance. Samsung Electronics will establish the Alpha microprocessor business as one of highly value-added ones.”

Palmer said Digital is experiencing strong demand for its Alpha products-first introduced in 1992. Recently the company announced that its total Alpha system and related revenue have totaled nearly $9 billion, since its introduction. “This new agreement with Samsung, along with our state-of-the-art fabrication plant in Hudson, Mass. and our existing second source relationship with Mitsubishi Electric Co.. of Japan, assures that we have the manufacturing muscle to support future demand for Alpha microprocessors,” Palmer said.“We are excited to have Samsung on our Alpha team.”

The agreement also provides Samsung with the right to distribute the cutting-edge Digital FX!32 software translation technology. The Digital FX!32 technology , which will be available later this year, gives Alpha users transparent access to 32-bit Windows x86 applications on the Windows NT operating system . This will greatly augment the broad portfolio of applications available on Alpha/Windows NT systems with comparable or better performance than on x86 systems.

“Without question, Windows NT will be a dominant operating system in future years.” Palmer and Y.W. Lee said. “This alliance between Digital and Samsung further distributes the broad benefits of Alpha and Digital FX!32 translation technologies to users requiring x86 Windows applications.”

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is the world’s leading producer of semiconductor memory products and a $21 billion affiliate of the Samsung Group, a $84 billion Korea-based conglomerate. Its total annual semiconductor sales exceeded $8 billion last year, makign it the sixth largest semiconductor manufacturer.

The company also has a various array of products including telecommunications, inforamation systems, computers, TFT-LCD, multimedia, home appliances and so on.

Digital Equipment Corporation is the world’s leader in open client /server solutions from personal computing to integrated worldwide information systems. Digital’s scalable Alpha platforms, storage, networking, software, and services, together with industry -focused solutions from business partners, help organizations compete and win in today's global marketplace.

Note to editors :

Digital and the Digital logo are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. Samsung and the Samsung logo are trademarks of Samsung Eletronics Co., Ltd.

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