Collaboration on SoC Process Development Expanded to 45 nm

Starting Full Integration Incorporating Latest ArF Immersion Technology

Tokyo, August 3, 2006 −− Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., and Renesas Technology Corp. today announced that they have entered the full integration¹ testing of a 45-nm SoC (system-on-chip) semiconductor manufacturing technology. The process technology is the first in the industry to begin a full integration incorporating ArF (argon-fluoride) immersion scanners² with a numerical aperture (NA) of 1.0 or more. The two companies started working on the joint 45-nm process development project in October 2005 and have collaborated on previous generation process development since 1998.

The current joint development project is scheduled to be completed in the middle of 2007, with volume production targeted to begin in fiscal 2008. The new 45-nm process will be used by both Matsushita and Renesas in manufacturing SoCs for advanced mobile products and networked consumer electronics products. Besides the advanced ArF immersion lithography, the companies plan to introduce other new technologies as part of the development project, including introduced-strain high-mobility transistors³ and ELK (K = 2.4) multilayer wiring modules.⁴

The two companies first agreed to work together on the development of next-generation SoC technology in 1998, even before the establishment of Renesas Technology. The new project is part of the fifth stage of their collaboration, which began in October 2005. The impressive record of completed joint-development projects includes a 130-nm DRAM merged process in 2001, a 90-nm SoC process in 2002, a 90-nm DRAM merged process in 2004, and a 65-nm SoC process in 2005.

Matsushita and Renesas will continue to work together to develop 45-nm SoC process technologies efficiently, building on their accumulated technology and an excellent working relationship based on trust, joint allocations of development resources, and shared technical information.

Notes:	1.	Full integration : Full integration of a production technology into all wafer processes, rather than limiting it to individual constituent modules.
	2.	ArF immersion scanner: A technology that increases resolution by filling the gap between the projection lens and the wafer with liquid, thereby increasing the effective lens diameter.
	3.	Introduced-strain high-mobility transistor: A technology that boosts current drive capacity by introducing localized stress into the transistor.
	4.	ELK multilayer wiring module: A multilayer copper wiring technology using interlayer insulation films with low relative permittivity.

About Panasonic

Best known by its Panasonic brand name, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products for a wide range of consumer, business, and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of US$76.02 billion for the year ended March 31, 2006. The company's shares are listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, New York (NYSE:MC) and Frankfurt* stock exchanges. For more information on the company and the Panasonic brand, visit the company's website at http://panasonic.net.

*Matsushita delisted its shares from the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in June 2006, and plans to complete delisting procedures for the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in August 2006.

About Renesas Technology Corp.

Renesas Technology Corp. is one of the world’s leading semiconductor system solutions providers for mobile, automotive and PC/AV (Audio Visual) markets and the world’s No.1 supplier of microcontrollers. It is also a leading provider of LCD Driver ICs, Smart Card microcontrollers, RF-ICs, High Power Amplifiers, Mixed Signal ICs, System-on-Chip (SoC), System-in-Package (SiP) and more. Established in 2003 as a joint venture between Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501, NYSE:HIT) and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TSE:6503), Renesas Technology achieved consolidated revenue of 906 billion JPY in FY2005 (end of March 2006). Renesas Technology is based in Tokyo, Japan and has a global network of manufacturing, design and sales operations in around 20 countries with about 26,200 employees worldwide. For further information, please visit
http://www.renesas.com