“This downturn will be far less severe, because it is taking place within a relatively strong worldwide economy, an ecomony which is expected to grow by 4.3% in 2005.” says Frank Dickson, publisher of In-Stat’s Microprocessor Report. “There are risks to the economy, however, such as petroleum prices remaining high, Middle East tensions not easing, and/or interest rates rising too rapidly. These risks could result in slower economic growth and a deeper and/or longer semiconductor downturn.”

(January 05, 2005) Santa Clara, Calif. &#8212 National Semiconductor announces the first in a new family of multi-functional, dynamically programmable products for powering advanced application and communication processors based on ARM technology, including Intel’s XScale processor family. National’s new single-chip, flexible power management unit (FlexPMU) features 12 integrated power domains for reduced board space and increased efficiency.