HITACHI AND SONY REACH AGREEMENT ON
LICENSING OF SuperH RISC CPU CORES
Tokyo, Japan, March 31, 1998 -- Hitachi, Ltd.(NYSE:HIT) and Sony Corporation today announced that the two
companies have concluded a licensing agreement regarding the CPU cores of the Hitachi's SuperH ™ RISC engine
family (SuperH).
Pursuant to this agreement, Hitachi will supply Sony with SH-1, SH-3 and SH-DSP CPU cores and related design
technology. Sony plans to use the CPU cores in the development, production and marketing of its own system LSIs.
Hitachi will also support the production of Sony system LSIs that carry the Hitachi's SuperH CPU cores.
The agreement marks another step in Hitachi's bid to strengthen the status of the SuperH microprocessors as an
industry standard in the multimedia market through global partnerships. Licensing and joint-development agreements
were concluded earlier with VLSI Technology Inc.of the U.S, SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics of Europe and Seiko Epson
Corporation of Japan.
These moves provide customers with sophisticated user support systems and enable Hitachi to offer a broad range of
system solutions.
Sony recognizes the importance of RISC microprocessors to the rapidly growing market for digital AV electronics,
and plans to provide a wide variety of essential CPU cores to meet the needs of its customers.
Sony is a leading producer of AV electronics related IC products such as laser diodes, CCDs, and system LSIs. Sony's
decision to license Hitachi's SuperH CPU cores will further enhance its semiconductor operations and strengthen the
position of the SuperH cores in the multimedia market.
Furthermore, by integrating Hitachi's high cost-performance SuperH* CPU cores with its earlier system technologies,
Sony will be able to provide an even wider variety of system solutions for use in digital AV and IT electronics
appliances. This will help Sony better respond to the needs of its customers.
About the SuperH RISC architecture
The SuperH family of high-performance, low-power RISC microprocessors is used extensively in cost-sensitive
multimedia applications such as mobile information and communication devices, car navigation systems and digital
cameras. The SH-3 series includes the leading processors supporting the Windows(R) CE operating system released by
Microsoft Corporation.
The recently introduced SH-4 series, featuring the industry's highest-performance embedded processor (360 MIPS at
200MHz), also supports Windows CE. Hitachi is developing SH-5 and continues to expand the series of SuperH
microprocessors to meet the needs of customers; the SuperH architecture already has over 2,000 design wins worldwide.
Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal
1996 (ending March 31, 1997) consolidated sales of 8,523 billion ($68.7 billi¹). The company manufactures and
markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial
equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://www.hitachi.co.jp.
Sony Corp. is one of the world's leading manufacturers of audio, video, communications and information technology
products in both the consumer and professional fields. Its music, pictures, and video game businesses also make Sony
one of the world's most comprehensive entertainment companies. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of over $45
billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 1997 and employs 163,000 worldwide.
NOTES:
1. At an exchange rate of 124 yen to the dollar.
SuperH is a trademark of Hitachi, Ltd.
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
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