VIA Announces Acquisition of Freehand DSP AB

Enhances Wireless Capabilities through Acquisition of Leading Edge Digital Signal Processing R&D Team

Taipei, Taiwan, 16 October 2002 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced that it has acquired the Digital Signal Processing company Freehand DSP AB. Located in Sundbyberg, Sweden, Freehand DSP specializes in leading edge Application-Specific Programmable Digital Signal Processing (ASPDSP) cores for media communication applications.

Freehand DSP is a chipless semiconductor company focused on the development of specialized DSP cores that can be programmed to meet the needs of specific applications. These cores feature a unique DSP architecture based on a very small and power efficient DSP kernel with attached hardware accelerators that require significantly lower levels of power consumption.

"Freehand's strengths in DSP complement VIA's long term goals for the wireless market, where the capability of programming cores for different applications lends considerable flexibility for the adoption of DSP technology into our wireless product roadmap," commented Wenchi Chen, President and CEO of VIA Technologies, Inc. "Moreover, the low power and small core size enable longer battery life and greater portability for enhanced mobility, in line with our vision of Total Connectivity."

About VIA Technologies, Inc.
VIA Technologies, Inc. is a leading innovator and developer of PC core logic chipsets, microprocessors, and multimedia, communications, optical media and networking chips. VIA delivers value to the PC industry by designing, marketing, and selling high-performance VIA Apollo core logic chipsets for the full range of PC platforms, and cost-effective VIA C3™ processors for Value PCs and Internet Appliances, as well as developing complete solutions for the PC platform through its VPSD Business Unit. Its customers include the world's top OEMs, mainboard manufacturers, and system integrators. VIA is headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, at the center of the Greater China high-tech manufacturing engine, and has branch offices in the US, China and Europe. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE2388), and achieved annual revenues of nearly US$1 billion in 2001. Additional information can be found at www.via.com.tw.

About Freehand DSP AB
Freehand DSP AB is a chipless semiconductor company providing leading edge Application-Specific Programmable Digital Signal Processing (ASPDSP) cores for media communication applications, and are dedicated to facilitate the integration of these cores into customer's System-on-Chip solutions. Freehand DSP AB is headquartered at Rissneleden 138, 174 57 Sundbyberg, Sweden Tel: +46 8 733 04 20 (outside Sweden), http://www.freehand.se.