Artisan Components And 1st Silicon Announce Agreement To Support Customers With 0.18-Micron Library Products

Agreement Includes Full Suite of Artisan Libraries for 1st Silicon's 0.18-Micron Process

SUNNYVALE, Calif., -- May 22, 2002 -- Artisan Components, Inc., (Nasdaq: ARTI), a leading provider of semiconductor intellectual property (IP) and 1st Silicon (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd, Malaysia's largest wafer foundry, today announced an agreement for Artisan to deliver its library products in 1st Silicon's 0.18-micron CMOS process. Under the terms of the agreement, Artisan has committed to develop a suite of libraries to include memory generators for single- and dual-port SRAM, two-port register file and diffusion programmable ROM. Artisan's SAGE-X™ Standard Cell Library and I/O cell library will also be developed. Early access of the standard cell library is expected to be available for selective 1st Silicon customers in Q3 2002.

Artisan's suite of library products will be optimized for 1st Silicon's 0.18- micron design rules and characterized using the latest electrical models of 1st Silicon's major foundry compatible process. The products will include support for Artisan's extensive set of views and models of the industry's leading EDA tools.

"Aligning the design and manufacturing of semiconductor production is critical to ease customer tapeout to production," said S.Y.Tan-Stahel, vice president of marketing at 1st Silicon. "By establishing a relationship with Artisan, we are working with a supplier familiar to our customers. We look forward to continued success in supporting customers with quality library solutions."

"1st Silicon started foundry service support with Artisan in 2001 for their 0.25-micron process technology and now our relationship continues with 0.18-micron," said Neal Carney, vice president of marketing at Artisan Components. "We are pleased 1st Silicon selected Artisan libraries and look forward to working with them to support our mutual customers' design-to-silicon needs."

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the availability of Artisan's library for 1st Silicon's 0.18-micron CMOS process in the third quarter of 2002. These statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, whether there will be technical or other difficulties that delay or prevent the availability of the 0.18-micron products listed above; and market acceptance of the 0.18-micron products listed above. We refer you also to the documents that Artisan files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in particular the section entitled "Factors Affecting Future Operating Results" in Artisan's annual report on Form 10-K and its quarterly reports on Forms 10-Q.

About 1st Silicon (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
1st Silicon is a dedicated semiconductor foundry founded in 1998 by the Malaysian State of Sarawak. 1st Silicon's 200mm wafer fab has a capacity in excess of 30,000 wafers per month when fully ramped. The Company is in volume production with 0.25-micron digital and mixed-signal CMOS technologies and is now providing 0.18um process prototypes. 1st Silicon's customers include integrated device manufacturers and fabless semiconductor companies from the U.S., Japan, and Asia. The Company has its headquarters in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, and a U.S. registered subsidiary corporation located in San Jose, California. More information is available on the Company's website at www.1stsilicon.com.

About Artisan Components
Artisan Components, Inc. is a leading semiconductor intellectual property (IP) provider. The company's design platforms are in use by design teams at over 900 companies worldwide. Artisan's design platforms provide IC designers with a common interface to a range of process technologies from the world's leading foundries. Built on Artisan's Process-Perfect(TM) memory generators, standard cell and I/O libraries, Artisan's design platforms include a comprehensive set of views and models supporting leading design tools and methodologies. Artisan's worldwide network of EDA, IP and design service partners extend the Artisan standard to a complete set of system level design and integration solutions. Artisan is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. More information about Artisan Components, including free library access can be found at: http://www.artisan.com.

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