Atheros Ships 100 Million
Wireless LAN Chipsets
Milestone Follows Landmark Year of
Revenue Growth
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 26, 2007
— Atheros Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHR), a leading developer of
advanced wireless solutions, announced that it has shipped more than 100 million
wireless LAN (WLAN) chipsets to date. In 2006, Atheros enjoyed an extraordinary
year with 64 percent revenue growth to $301.7 million, punctuated in the fourth
quarter with the company’s seventh quarter of consecutive growth. The eight-year
old company shipped more than 40 percent of the 100 million cumulative WLAN
chipsets during the last year.
Atheros’ recent WLAN chipset milestone is due in part to the company’s
commitment to delivering industry-leading single-chip 802.11g and 802.11a/g
solutions, and the unmatched performance of its XSPAN™ draft 802.11n family of
solutions. During 2006, Atheros also began shipping its 802.11g and 802.11a/g
ROCm™ (Radio-on-Chip for Mobile) embedded solutions, targeted to dual-mode
cellular handsets, low-cost VoIP phones, mobile gaming devices, cameras,
camcorders, music players and PDAs with market-leading WLAN capability.
While greater than 50 percent of the company’s fourth
quarter WLAN revenue was derived from its 802.11g solutions, over 20 percent
came from its new generation XSPAN 802.11n products. The company’s customers are
shipping a wide variety of Atheros-based draft 802.11n products with more than
50 SKUs in the market today. With the recent stabilization of the 2.0 draft and
the advent of end-product certification by the Wi-Fi Alliance to begin mid-year,
Atheros anticipates the adoption of 802.11n products will continue to grow.
Another factor contributing to the company’s core business
in 2006 was the increased adoption of WLAN technologies in the carrier and
gateway market. Atheros’ single-chip 802.11g solutions are currently featured in
designs from five of the top broadband gateway providers worldwide. As 802.11n
is accepted in the carrier market, these solutions will provide unmatched
ability to deliver triple play and IPTV services throughout the home.
“The 100-million chipset milestone signifies our employees’
continued commitment to making Atheros the leading provider of the industry’s
highest performance wireless communications products,” said Craig Barratt,
president and chief executive officer of Atheros. “While Atheros’ success to
date has come from its wireless LAN expertise, the company is extending its
technical leadership into the Bluetooth and Ethernet markets to meet the growing
needs of our world-class customer base.”
About Atheros Communications, Inc.
Atheros Communications is a leading developer of
semiconductor system solutions for wireless communications products. Atheros
combines its wireless systems expertise with high-performance radio frequency (RF),
mixed signal and digital semiconductor design skills to provide highly
integrated chipsets that are manufacturable on low-cost, standard complementary
metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processes. Atheros technology is being used by
a broad base of leading customers, including personal computer, networking
equipment and handset manufacturers. For more information, visit www.atheros.com or
send email to info@atheros.com.
###
Atheros, the Atheros logo, XSPAN and ROCm
are trademarks of Atheros Communications, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in
this document are the sole property of their respective owners.
NOTE ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
Except for the historical information
contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including
statements regarding the features, performance, competitiveness and benefits of
Atheros' XSPAN draft 802.11n products, the anticipated growth of the 802.11n
market, and the company’s anticipated leadership position in the Bluetooth and
Ethernet markets, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially, including, but not limited to, difficulties in
development and manufacture of new products and upgraded products; unforeseen
problems in the performance of new and enhanced products upon broad deployment;
whether the draft 802.11n standard is adopted in substantially its draft form by
the IEEE and whether the market for products based on this standard grows;
general economic conditions, the effects of competition and technological
change, and other risks detailed in Atheros' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2005, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended September 30, 2006 as filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, and in other reports filed with the SEC by Atheros from time to
time. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Atheros
disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Dakota Lee, 408-720-5597, dakota@atheros.com, or Greg Wood, A&R Edelman for
Atheros , 650-762-2838,
gwood@ar-edelman.com
For
analyst inquires contact: Deborah Stapleton of Stapleton Communications, Inc.,
+1-650-470-0200,
deb@stapleton.com
View All 2007 Press Releases
