Arc International PLC
03 March 2008
Media Contact:
Jonah McLeod
ARC International
+1 408 437 3477
Jonah.Mcleod@arc.com
ARC Helps STEC's New MACH4 CompactFlash Capture
HD Multimedia Content at Twice the Speed
Of Competitive Offerings
New ARC-Based(TM) MACH4 CompactFlash SSD Delivers 80 MB/s;
Affords Professional Video Equipment A High Capacity Alternative to Hard Drives
SAN JOSE, Calif., and ST. ALBANS, England, March 3, 2008 - ARC International
(LSE: ARK) today announced that STEC Inc. (Nasdaq: STEC), a leading supplier of
solid state drives (SSDs), has extended its existing relationship with ARC and
taken a new license for ARC's configurable technology. The new license from a
major flash memory supplier enhances ARC's position as one of the leading
suppliers in this growing market, which is forecast to surpass 1 billion units
shipped per year according to Semico Research Corporation. This latest STEC
implementation of ARC's configurable core is contained in STEC's new MACH4
CompactFlash device. Please see related news release dated February 26, 2008
from STEC for more information (http://biz.yahoo.com/pz/080226/137051.html)
Since 1994 STEC has been a leader in innovative solid state storage technology,
with particular emphasis on high performance and high reliability. STEC's
ARC-Based(TM) MACH4 enhances its SSD offering by providing CompactFlash storage
with twice the data transfer rate (up to 80MB/s) of other CompactFlash devices.
This performance opens up a new opportunity with professional video equipment
manufacturers, who have found hard drives a less-than-optimum storage media for
high definition (HD) video. HD video cameras now have an SSD replacement for
hard drives, which provide comparable storage capacity, but are smaller, consume
less power, have no mechanical vibration, and offer higher performance.
Patrick Wilkison, vice president of marketing and business development at STEC,
said, "ARC's configurable technology has enabled our engineering team to create
a highly differentiated product that provides a more optimized computing
platform to system OEMs. The result is a solution that delivers higher value by
greatly speeding access to stored digital and multimedia content."
Bill Jackson, vice president of marketing at ARC International, said, "STEC is
among our growing list of customers in the solid state storage market who
recognize that providing superior performance to their OEM customers is the way
to assure product success. We applaud their ingenuity and ability to develop a
unique and innovative ARC-Based solution."
Thriving CompactFlash Market
According to Semico Research, the availability of flash memory with very high
storage capacities has spawned nothing short of a revolution in the way
consumers and business people regard and access their data. Semico expects this
trend to continue. As a result, the Phoenix AZ market research firm is
forecasting that the Flash market will experience continued robust growth and by
2012 will ship 1.3 billion units with a market value of $19 billion.
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About ARC International plc
ARC International is the world leader in multimedia subsystems and configurable
CPU/DSP processors. Used by over 140 companies worldwide, ARC's configurable
solutions enable the creation of highly differentiated system-on-chips (SoCs)
that ship in hundreds of millions of devices annually. ARC's patented
subsystems and cores are smaller, consume less power, and are less expensive to
manufacture than competing products.
ARC International maintains a worldwide presence with corporate and research and
development offices in San Jose and Lake Tahoe, Calif., St. Albans, England, and
St. Petersburg, Russia. For more information visit www.ARC.com. ARC
International is listed on the London Stock Exchange as ARC International plc
(LSE: ARK).
ARC and the ARC logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of ARC
International. All other brands or product names contained herein are the
property of their respective owners. This press release may contain certain
"forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, including the
development, implementation, and release of features described herein. These are
at the sole discretion of ARC International. Licenses from 3rd parties for
certain software and essential patents may be required depending on licensee's
use/implementation. For other factors that could cause actual results to differ,
visit the company's Website as well as the listing particulars filed with the
United Kingdom Listing Authority and the Registrar of Companies in England and
Wales.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange