Atmel Announces Share Repurchase Program

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Atmel® Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML), a leader in microcontroller and touch solutions, today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized $200 million for a common stock repurchase program.

The program authorizes the purchase of Atmel common stock in the open market depending upon market conditions and other factors.  The program does not have an expiration date. The number of shares repurchased and the timing of repurchases will be based on the level of cash balances, general business and market conditions, regulatory requirement and other factors, including alternative investment opportunities.

Stephen Cumming, Atmel's Vice President and Chief Financial Officer commented, "The share repurchase program reflects improved confidence in our business model, the company's rising net cash position, and our ongoing commitment to increasing shareholder value."

About Atmel

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, capacitive touch solutions, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions focused on industrial, consumer, security, communications, computing and automotive markets.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements

Information in this release regarding Atmel's forecasts, business outlook, expectations and beliefs are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include statements about our future operating and financial performance, confidence in our business model, our rising net cash position, and our ongoing commitment to increasing shareholder value. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to Atmel as of the date of this release, which may change, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include general economic conditions; risk relating to the closing of the potential sale of Atmel's Smart Card business and related manufacturing assets; the inability to realize the anticipated benefits of any potential transaction or series of transactions regarding Atmel's Smart Card business and related manufacturing assets, if consummated, or of our other recent strategic transactions, restructuring plans and other initiatives in a timely manner or at all; the impact of competitive products and pricing; timely design acceptance by our customers; timely introduction of new products and technologies; ability to ramp new products into volume production; industry wide shifts in supply and demand for semiconductor products; industry and/or company overcapacity; effective and cost efficient utilization of manufacturing capacity; financial stability in foreign markets and the impact of foreign exchange rates; unanticipated costs and expenses or the inability to identify expenses which can be eliminated; the market price of our common stock; compliance with U.S. and international laws and regulations by us and our distributors; unfavorable results of legal proceedings; and other risks detailed from time to time in Atmel's SEC reports and filings, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, filed on March 1, 2010, and our subsequent Form 10-Q reports. Atmel assumes no obligation and does not intend to update the forward-looking statements provided, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact: Peter Schuman, Director of Investor Relations, 1-408-518-8426

SOURCE Atmel Corporation