CARSEM INCREASES HIGH-DENSITY MLP OPTIONS

Scotts Valley, CA- January 11, 2005-Carsem, a leading provider of turnkey packaging and test services to the semiconductor industry, announced today that they increased the number of package size options of the High-Density MLP (Micro Leadframe Package) family. Carsem MLP's are QFN (Quad Flat No-lead) and SON (Small Outline No-lead) type packages that are compliant to JEDEC's MO220, and MO229 standards.

The High-Density MLP uses a leadframe strip that achieves the very high unit densities used in Carsem's advanced saw-singulation concept. However, because of the efficiency of the High Density mechanical-singulation designs, the throughput is significantly higher when compared to the sawn version and therefore a more cost effective solution.

There are two designs of the High-Density MLP, one has the leads on two sides of the package, MLP Dual High-Density (MLPDH), and the other is the MLP Quad High-Density (MLPQH), which has leads on all four sides of the package. Earlier this year Carsem began shipping production volumes of the MLPDH with a 2x3 mm body and 6 leads (3 per side) as well as the MLPQH with a 3x3mm body with 12 leads (3 per side) and 16 leads (4 per side). The additional option for the MLPDH is a 5x6 mm body with 8 leads and it has the same footprint as an 8 lead SOIC. The additional options for the MLPQH are a 4x4mm with 16 and 20 leads, a 5x5 mm with 32 leads and a 7x7 mm with 48 leads. The High-Density MLP is currently only manufactured in Malaysia.

According to Paul Smith, Carsem's Director of Marketing, "One of the advantages of the High-Density MLP is that it gives us a tremendous increase in our throughput and capacity which provides our customers with a very cost effective solution for products that run consistently high volumes. Another advantage is that the leadframes have been designed to incorporate the use of strip-testing, which will further improve the throughput and enhance yields for the final test portion of the process."

David Comley, Group Managing Director, stated, "Carsem has made substantial investments in the development of this technology and we are pleased that we can now offer our customers these additional MLP solutions. We will continue to invest in the future growth of the MLP technology and remain dedicated in supporting our customer's needs."

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.