Actel Extends "Green" and Lead-Free Packaging Options to 100 Percent of its Antifuse- and Flash-Based FPGA Product Families
Company Delivers on Roadmap; Strengthens Commitment Toward Achieving
Compliance With Global Environmental Initiatives
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 22, 2004 —
Delivering on its environmentally-conscious
roadmap, Actel Corporation (Nasdaq: ACTL) today announced the availability
of
"green" and lead (Pb)-free packaging options for 100 percent
of its antifuse- and flash-based field-programmable gate array (FPGA)
product families. In addition to the company's standard packaging, Actel
now provides green packaging alternatives, defined as free of both lead
and halogen, for its entire portfolio of plastic leaded packages. Lead-free
packaging is also now available for Actel's complete line of plastic
ball-grid array (BGA) packages. With this announcement, Actel is compliant
with the European Commission's Reduction of Hazardous Substance (ROHS)
directive, which aims to eliminate several hazardous materials in electronic
products by July of 2006. Furthermore, Actel has taken a crucial step
toward achieving compliance with other environmental initiatives gaining
momentum across the globe. 
"With the expansion of environmentally friendly packaging options
across 100 percent of Actel's FPGA product families, we not only deliver
on our own environmental roadmap and business policy, but we are also
aligning ourselves with several important environmental initiatives being
implemented around the world," said Barry Marsh, vice president,
product marketing at Actel. "Meeting ROHS compliance more than two
years in advance of the July 2006 implementation deadline puts Actel
well ahead of the game. As we look to address other directives, we will
continue to work closely with our suppliers and customers in the communications,
consumer, industrial and avionics industries to take an active leadership
role in reducing the amount of harmful compounds in our devices."
The demand for devices free of lead and other harmful alloys is a result
of the proactive efforts of regions like Europe and Japan that have proposed
regulations to decrease the amount of these substances used in the manufacture
of electronic products. The ROHS directive, for example, will restrict
the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chormium, polybrominated
biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in all electronic products
distributed within the European Union. The Waste of Electrical and Electronic
Equipment (WEEE) directive, also out of the European Union, establishes
guidelines for the collection, treatment, recycling and recovery of waste
for electrical and electronic equipment. In addition, Japan, the first
country to manufacture lead-free assemblies, currently requires all semiconductors
manufactured in that country to be housed in lead-free packaging.
All of Actel's green and lead-free packages are guaranteed to provide
the same benefits and features found in the company's standard packaging
options, such as high security, low-power consumption and firm-error
immunity. Actel has also taken the extra step to qualify its lead-free
packages to operate at the same moisture-sensitivity level (MSL) as its
standard packages, allowing designers to implement environmentally friendly
alternatives in their designs without compromising performance or reliability.
Pricing and Availability
Green and lead-free packaging for the company's entire portfolio of
antifuse- and flash-based FPGAs are available now. Both packaging alternatives
are available at the same competitive prices as Actel's standard packaging
options, which Actel will continue to offer for all of its device families.
For further information about Actel's green and lead-free packaging solutions,
please visit Actel's packaging resource center at: http://www.actel.com/products/solutions/package/.
About Actel
Actel Corporation is a supplier
of innovative programmable logic solutions, including field-programmable
gate arrays (FPGAs) based on antifuse and flash technologies, high-performance
intellectual property (IP) cores, software development tools and design
services, targeted for the high-speed communications, application-specific
integrated circuit (ASIC) replacement and radiation-tolerant markets.
Founded in 1985, Actel employs more than 500 people worldwide. The
Company is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol ACTL
and is headquartered at 2061 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA, 94043-4655.
Telephone: 888-99-ACTEL (992-2835). Internet: http://www.actel.com.
Contact: Stephanie Mrus, Actel Corporation, 650.318.4614
