RFMD(R) Introduces PowerSmart(TM) Power Platforms

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RF Micro Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq: RFMD), a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance radio frequency components and compound semiconductor technologies, today introduced PowerSmart™ power platforms, a new product category designed to reshape the future of multimode, multi-band cellular RF architectures. RFMD's PowerSmart™ platforms feature a revolutionary new RF Configurable Power Core™, which leverages industry-leading functional efficiency and delivers state-of-the-art processing of all known cellular communications modulation schemes, including GSM/GPRS, EDGE, EDGE Evolution, CDMA, 3G (TD-SCDMA or WCDMA/HSPA+) and 4G (LTE or WiMAX). With PowerSmart™, RFMD is enabling a new generation of global smartphones and mobile internet devices requiring three or more bands of 3G or 4G.

The RF Configurable Power Core™ at the heart of each PowerSmart™ platform incorporates all power amplification and RF power management functionality. RFMD's PowerSmart™ platforms also include all necessary switching and signal conditioning functionality in a compact reference design, providing smartphone manufacturers a single scalable source for the entire cellular front end. PowerSmart™ is modulation scheme agnostic and can support four bands of GSM/GPRS or EDGE and up to five bands of TD-SCDMA, WCDMA/HSPA+, LTE, WiMAX or CDMA – all within a product footprint that is 35% smaller than today's highest volume quad-band solutions. In a real-world comparison, versus today's highest volume triple-band 3G solution using power amplifier duplexer (PAD) modules, PowerSmart™ reduces board space requirements by greater than 40%.

Eric Creviston, president of RFMD's Cellular Products Group (CPG), said, "RFMD's PowerSmart™ power platforms deliver smartphone manufacturers enhanced performance and improvements in value and solution size that are unmatched in the cellular RF industry. PowerSmart™ platforms process all known cellular modulations at optimum performance, with superior energy efficiency and at the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. We anticipate significant customer adoption this year as PowerSmart™ enables global 3G/4G penta-band implementations with product footprints that are smaller than those of triple-band solutions. With pricing below competitive penta-band WCDMA solutions and a revolutionary architecture that enables both global platform manufacturing and real-time RF configurability of individual smartphone models, PowerSmart™ is indeed smart power for smartphones."

PowerSmart™ power platforms provide customers and cellular platform providers industry-leading mode coverage (GSM/GPRS, EDGE, EDGE Evolution, CDMA, TD-SCDMA, WCDMA/HSPA+ and LTE/4G) and industry-leading band coverage (bands 1-6 and 8-10). RFMD's PowerSmart™ platforms also help to extend battery life and significantly reduce average thermal dissipation – both critical performance metrics for smartphone manufacturers – by maximizing efficiency across power levels, across data rates (voice-only to LTE) and during non-ideal load conditions, also known as "antenna mismatch." Each PowerSmart™ platform utilizes a standardized digital interface (SDI) and is optimized to mate with leading multi-band HSPA+/EDGE/GPRS RF transceivers.

RFMD offers the industry's broadest and most innovative portfolio of radio frequency components, including cellular power amplifier modules, cellular transmit modules, cellular switch and filter modules, and front ends for Wi-Fi, WiMAX and GPS applications. In addition to emerging multimode, multi-band architectures, RFMD's industry-leading 3G/4G product portfolio accommodates all major RF architectures, including mode-specific/band-specific and mode-specific/multi-band architectures. RFMD also supplies a broad portfolio of 2G/2.5G power amplifier-based and switch-based components optimized for 3G handsets, providing a comprehensive RF product portfolio covering the entire cellular front end. RFMD's broad product portfolio is on display at the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 15 to February 18.

About RFMD

RF Micro Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq: RFMD) is a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance radio frequency components and compound semiconductor technologies. RFMD's products enable worldwide mobility, provide enhanced connectivity and support advanced functionality in the cellular handset, wireless infrastructure, wireless local area network (WLAN), CATV/broadband and aerospace and defense markets. RFMD is recognized for its diverse portfolio of semiconductor technologies and RF systems expertise and is a preferred supplier to the world's leading mobile device, customer premises and communications equipment providers.

Headquartered in Greensboro, N.C., RFMD is an ISO 9001- and ISO 14001-certified manufacturer with worldwide engineering, design, sales and service facilities. RFMD is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol RFMD. For more information, please visit RFMD's web site at www.rfmd.com.

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our plans, objectives, representations and contentions and are not historical facts and typically are identified by use of terms such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue" and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. You should be aware that the forward-looking statements included herein represent management's current judgment and expectations, but our actual results, events and performance could differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. We do not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements or publicly announce the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements, other than as is required under the federal securities laws. RF Micro Devices' business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with the impact of global macroeconomic and credit conditions on our business and the business of our suppliers and customers, variability in operating results, the rate of growth and development of wireless markets, risks associated with the reduced investment in our wireless systems business, our ability to execute on our plans to consolidate or relocate manufacturing operations, our reliance on inclusion in third party reference designs for a portion of our revenue, our ability to manage channel partner and customer relationships, risks associated with the operation of our wafer fabrication facilities, molecular beam epitaxy facility, assembly facility and test and tape and reel facilities, our ability to complete acquisitions and integrate acquired companies, including the risk that we may not realize expected synergies from our business combinations, our ability to attract and retain skilled personnel and develop leaders, variability in production yields, raw material costs and availability, our ability to reduce costs and improve margins in response to declining average selling prices, our ability to bring new products to market, our ability to adjust production capacity in a timely fashion in response to changes in demand for our products, dependence on a limited number of customers, dependence on gallium arsenide (GaAs) for the majority of our products, and dependence on third parties. These and other risks and uncertainties, which are described in more detail in RF Micro Devices' most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other reports and statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual results and developments to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any of these forward-looking statements.

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SOURCE RF Micro Devices, Inc.