Exhibit 99.2

                                Atmel Files 10-Q

                 Third Quarter Tax Provision Reduced by Atmel


    SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Atmel Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML),
a worldwide leader in the development, fabrication and sale of advanced
semiconductors, today announced that in conjunction with filing its 10-Q for
the third quarter ended September 30, 2004, the Company had modified the
recognition of its provision for income taxes. Although income tax remains
forecasted at $28 million for the full year 2004, the amount recognized in the
third quarter has been reduced to $18 million from $28 million, and the fourth
quarter outlook has been revised from an $8 million tax benefit to
approximately a $2 million tax provision. As a result, the third quarter 2004
basic loss per share, as reported in the 10-Q filed today, is ($0.04).


    About Atmel

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


    (C) Atmel Corporation 2004. All rights reserved. Atmel(R), logo and
combinations thereof, are registered trademarks, and Everywhere You Are(SM) is
a trademark of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other terms and product
names may be trademarks of others.

    Contact:  Steven Horwitz, Director, Investor Relations, 408-487-2677


    Information in this release regarding Atmel's tax provision outlook is a
forward-looking statement that involves risks and uncertainties. The forward-
looking statement included in this release is 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 statement. This statement is not
a guarantee of future performance and actual results could differ materially
from our current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such
differences include the impact of competitive products and pricing, timely
design acceptance by our customers, timely introduction of new technologies,
ability to ramp new products into volume, 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 other risks detailed from time to time in
Atmel's SEC reports and filings, including our Form 10-K, filed on March 15,
2004 and subsequent Form 10-Q reports.



SOURCE  Atmel Corporation
    -0-                             11/09/2004
    /CONTACT:  Steven Horwitz, Director, Investor Relations, of Atmel
Corporation , +1-408-487-2677/
    /Web site:  http://www.atmel.com /
    (ATML)

CO:  Atmel Corporation
ST:  California
IN:  CPR SEM ECP
SU:  ERP