EXHIBIT 2
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ARTISAN TOWER NEWS
COMPONENTS SEMICONDUCTOR LTD.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Tower Semiconductor Enhances Fab 2's IP Portfolio With
Artisan Components' Industry-Standard Design Platforms
ARTISAN'S PRODUCT SOLUTIONS OPTIMIZED FOR TOWER'S 0.18-MICRON PROCESS AND FAB 2
TECHNOLOGIES
MIGDAL HAEMEK, Israel and SUNNYVALE, Calif., -- December 17, 2002 -- Tower
Semiconductor (Nasdaq: TSEM; TASE: TSEM) has enhanced its Fab 2 IP portfolio by
licensing industry-standard design platforms from Artisan Components, Inc.
(Nasdaq: ARTI). As part of the agreement, Artisan will deliver a suite of memory
generators, a standard cell library and a complete set of general-purpose I/Os
optimized for Tower's 0.18-micron CMOS process. These platforms will be
available to Tower customers as early as the first quarter of 2003.
"By licensing Artisan's products, Tower can provide its customers with a
broad selection of widely used, silicon-proven semiconductor IP," said Sergio
Kusevitzky, senior director of IP and design services at Tower Semiconductor.
"The addition of Artisan libraries matches our strategy of helping our customers
to shorten design time, while minimizing risk and accelerating time-to-market.
Additionally, Tower will gain access to Artisan's diverse customer base,
improving our competitive position in the marketplace."
More than 1000 companies around the world license Artisan's design
platforms. Tower's advanced 0.18-micron process technology coupled with
Artisan's state-of-the-art design platforms can provide the backbone for
designing and manufacturing a variety of semiconductor devices.
"Tower's focus on providing leading-edge process technologies and superior
customer support complements Artisan's commitment to deliver design products
that are optimized for the latest design and manufacturing techniques. We
anticipate that this powerful combination will give IC designers the best
possible path to silicon," said Neal Carney, vice president of marketing,
Artisan Components. "We are pleased Tower has selected our products to advance
its technology and business goals."
Artisan will provide Tower with memory generators for single- and dual-port
SRAM, one- and two-port register files, via programmable ROM, the SAGE-X(TM)
Standard Cell Library and a set of general-purpose I/Os. Artisan's extensive set
of views and models of the industry's leading EDA tools are a standard part of
this comprehensive product offering.
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Safe Harbor Statement for Tower Semiconductor Ltd.
This press release includes forward-looking statements, which are subject to
risks and uncertainties. Actual results may vary from those projected or implied
by such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include,
without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with (i) conditions in
the market for foundry manufacturing services and in the market for
semiconductor products generally, (ii) obtaining additional business from new
and existing customers, (iii) obtaining additional financing for the Fab 2
project from wafer partners and/or equity partners and/or other sources, (iv)
any failure by Tower to raise additional funding by the deadlines set forth in
its agreement with its banks and/or a failure by Tower to reach an agreement
with its banks to extend the deadlines to raise additional financing in 2002 and
2003, which would result in an event of default of Tower's loan agreement, in
which event the banks would have the right to call the loans and exercise its
liens against Tower's assets, (v) a declaration of default by Tower's wafer
partners, financial investors and the Investment Center of the State of Israel
should Tower's banks call the loans, (vi) satisfaction of all other conditions
under the agreements with the Fab 2 equity and wafer partners, the Israeli
Investment Center and Tower's banks, (vii) completing the construction of a new
wafer manufacturing facility, (viii) successful completion of the development
and/or transfer of advanced CMOS process technologies to be utilized in Tower's
existing facility and in Fab 2, (ix) market acceptance and competitiveness of
the products to be manufactured by Tower for customers using these technologies
and (x) ramp-up of production at Fab 2.A more complete discussion of risks and
uncertainties that may affect the accuracy of these statements, and Tower's
business generally, is included in our most recent Registration Statement on
Form F-2, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT FOR ARTISAN COMPONENTS, INC.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, without
limitation, the availability of Artisan's single- and dual-port SRAM, one- and
two-port register files, via programmable ROM, SAGE-X(TM) Standard Cell Library
and I/O Library for Tower's 0.18-micron CMOS process as early as the first
quarter of 2003. These statements are subject to various risks and
uncertainties, including, but not limited to, whether there will be technical or
other difficulties that delay or prevent the availability of such 0.18-micron
library products; and market acceptance of such 0.18-micron library products. We
refer you also to the documents that Artisan files from time to time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, in particular the section entitled "Factors
Affecting Future Operating Results" in Artisan's annual report on Form 10-K and
its quarterly reports on Forms 10-Q.
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ABOUT TOWER SEMICONDUCTOR LTD.
Tower Semiconductor Ltd. is a pure-play independent wafer foundry established in
1993. The company manufactures integrated circuits with geometries ranging from
1.0 to 0.18 microns; it also provides complementary manufacturing services and
design support. In addition to digital CMOS process technology, Tower offers
advanced non-volatile memory solutions, mixed-signal and CMOS image-sensor
technologies. To provide world-class customer service, the company maintains two
manufacturing facilities: Fab 1 has process technologies from 1.0 to 0.35
microns and can produce up to 20,000 150mm wafers per month. Fab 2 features
0.18-micron and below process technologies, including foundry-standard
technology, and will offer full production capacity of 33,000 200mm wafers per
month. The Tower Web site is located at www.towersemi.com.
ABOUT ARTISAN COMPONENTS, INC.
Artisan Components, Inc. is a leading semiconductor intellectual property (IP)
provider. The company's design platforms are licensed to over 1000 companies
worldwide and provide IC designers with a common interface to a range of process
technologies from the world's leading foundries. Built on Artisan's
Process-Perfect(TM) memory generators, standard cell and I/O libraries,
Artisan's design platforms include a comprehensive set of views and models
supporting leading design tools and methodologies. Artisan's worldwide network
of EDA, IP and design service partners extend the Artisan standard to a complete
set of system level design and integration solutions. Artisan is headquartered
in Sunnyvale, California. More information about Artisan Components, including
free library access can be found at: http://www.artisan.com.
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Artisan Components, Artisan and Process-Perfect are registered trademarks and
SAGE-X and Flex-Repair are trademarks of Artisan Components, Inc. All other
trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
EDITORIAL CONTACTS:
TOWER SEMICONDUCTOR
PR AGENCY CONTACT INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT CORPORATE
CONTACT
JULIE LASS SHELDON LUTCH L.T. GUTTADAURO
LOOMIS GROUP FUSION IR & COMMUNICATIONS TOWER SEMICONDUCTOR
USA, INC.
+1 (512) 457 9400 +1 (212) 268 1816 +1 (408) 557 2690
LASSJ@LOOMISGROUP.COM SHELDON@FUSIONIR.COM LT@TOWER-USA.COM
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ARTISAN COMPONENTS, INC.
Corporate Contact Investor Relations Contact
Claudia Natalia Joyce Chowla
Artisan Components, Inc. Artisan Components, Inc.
TEL: +1 (408) 548 3172 TEL: +1 (408) 548 3122
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