CARSEM EXPANDS MLP MANUFACTURING CAPACITY

Scotts Valley, CA-July 1, 2003-Carsem, a leading provider of turnkey packaging and test services to the semiconductor industry, announced today they are expanding the manufacturing capacity for their MLP (Micro Leadframe Package) family by an additional 50%.

According to Paul Smith, Carsem's Director of Marketing, "In April this year, we announced an MSL-1 (Moisture Sensitivity Level One) process option for our MLP's and had already expanded our capacity in anticipation of increased demand. Since the announcement we have had several customers show an even greater interest in using this package technology and we quickly decided to add more capacity. The initial increase will be in place by the end of July and by early September our total capacity will be in excess of 50 million units per month."

David Comley, Group Managing Director, stated, "This has been one of the fastest, if not the fastest, growing packages in the history of the industry. Over the past few years we made major investments in the MLP and achieved some significant technology breakthroughs as evidenced by our MSL-1 capability and our High-Density programs. We will continue to invest in the future of the MLP and assure our customers that we remain committed to have the capacity and technology advantages they need to grow their business."

Carsem MLP's are QFN & SON type package per JEDEC's MO220 and MO229 standard's. MSL is a joint industry standard that was established by IPC and JEDEC. The standard measures the ability of devices to withstand exposure to a moist environment for a period of time prior to being surface mounted to a printed circuit board. MSL-1 means devices can be stored for an infinite amount of time and therefore the expensive moisture protection procedures associated with lower level MSL ratings such as MSL-2 or 3 are not required. For further information see www.jedec.com

About Carsem
Carsem is a leading provider of turnkey packaging and test services to the semiconductor industry, and offers one of the widest ranges of package & test portfolios in the world. To meet the growing demands of the telecommunications and wireless markets for smaller, faster, thermally-efficient devices, Carsem's portfolio includes several advanced technologies, such as the Micro Leadframe Package (MLP), Small Scale Ball Grid Array (SSBGA), Flip Chip On Leadframe (FCOL), and a SiP (System-in-Package) capability. Carsem also offers a full range of turnkey test services for RF, mixed-signal, linear, digital and power devices. Our factories maintain world-class quality standards having achieved SAC Level 1, ISO-9001, ISO-14001, QS-9000, TS16949 certifications, and are supported with a global network of sales and engineering support offices. Carsem is a member of the Hong Leong Group with factories located in Ipoh, Malaysia, Suzhou, China and sales offices across the USA, plus the UK. Carsem, Inc. sales headquarters is located at 269 Mt. Hermon Road, Suite 104, Scotts Valley, CA 95066, phone (831) 438-6861, fax (831) 438-6863, web site: www.carsem.com.