DALLAS (August 15, 2005) – Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) announced the implementation of its RoHS (European Union Restriction of Hazardous Substances) “Gold” strategy for its integrated circuit products. Developed to offer easy solutions to RoHS component transition challenges, RoHS “Gold” provides customers with the preferred finish for lead-frame based products, Nickel-Palladium-Gold (NiPdAu), which means no “tin whiskering” worries, as well as unique part numbers for easy Bill-of-Materials (BOM) management and easy on-line access to key material content information. (See www.ti.com/ecoinfo.)
“TI’s RoHS ‘Gold’ strategy was developed to help make the RoHS transition process easier,” stated Eric Williams, Manager for TI’s Pb-Free Program Office. “Our customers have routinely highlighted the importance of these 3 elements in order to meet their time-to-market needs.” TI first implemented the Nickel-Palladium based finish to its Logic ICs in 1989 and has since shipped over 30 billion units into the market. The NiPdAu finish is TI’s primary RoHS compliant finish for lead-frame based products. Today, over 98% of those products have already been converted to the NiPdAu finish which is also backward compatible with traditional “leaded” manufacturing processes.
TI’s RoHS “Gold” strategy also features unique part numbering which makes it easier for customers to manage their new RoHS compliant BOMs, ensuring RoHS compliant parts are ordered, received and board-mounted properly. For lead-frame based products, TI has adopted a two-character suffix based on the JEDEC JESD97 solder finish codes. For example, the standard part number “ADS1286UA” now has a RoHS compliant, unique part number “ADS1286UAG4”. For BGA-based products, the RoHS compliant version is not backward compatible, so a different unique part numbering scheme is used that includes a “Z” in the package suffix. For example, the “leaded” part number “PCI1620GHK” now has a RoHS compliant, unique part number “PCI1620ZHK.”
The final element of TI’s RoHS “Gold” strategy is to provide customers with easy access to key RoHS related information, including a best-in-class material content search tool with downloadable results, as well as a material declaration certificate, application notes and more. (See www.ti.com/leadfree.) TI recently was the only semiconductor supplier to receive a “best” ranking of “5” according to RoHSwell.com. An independent third-party resource, RoHSwell.com ranks suppliers websites based on the depth and breadth of RoHS related material.
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About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog technologies to meet our customers' real world signal processing requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company's businesses include Sensors & Controls, and Educational & Productivity Solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than 25 countries.
Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web at www.ti.com
Safe Harbor Statement
Statements contained in this press release regarding the Pb-Free and RoHS compliance status of TI products and other statements of management's beliefs, goals and expectations may be considered forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. The following factors and the factors discussed in TI's most recent Form 10-K could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements contained in this press release: changes to the RoHS Directive or the underlying definitions or interpretations; new or different information from third parties, including TI suppliers. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this.
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