SST Acquires Flash Memory Technology Company Acquisition Enables SST to Expand Technology Licensing Portfolio With NAND Flash SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SST (Silicon Storage Technology, Inc., Nasdaq: SSTI), a leader in flash memory technology, today announced it has acquired substantially all of the shares of privately held Actrans Systems, Inc. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Actrans Systems is a fabless IC company that designs flash memory and EEPROM. SST plans to incorporate Actrans' split-gate NAND flash technology into its portfolio of licensable IP. Under the terms of the share purchase agreement, which was signed on April 11, 2005, SST will pay Actrans' shareholders approximately $20 million in common stock and cash. SST expects to complete the purchase of the remaining three percent of shares this week. The company's engineers will be merged into SST's Standard Memory Product Group, working in both Taiwan and the United States. Actrans Systems, Inc. is a designer and developer of flash memory technology and products that also offers IP services for embedded and customer specific applications using flash memory and EEPROM IP macros. Actrans' split-gate NAND flash memory technologies utilize a 0.15 and 0.12-micron process for targeted densities ranging from 256 Mbit to 1Gbit. The technology has been validated by Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation (PSC), a licensee of SST's SuperFlash technology and an early investor in Actrans Systems. SST expects to license these split-gate NAND products to PSC and collaborate with PSC to bring these and other higher density products into volume production. "As we have previously discussed, we continue to look at opportunities to expand our IP and deep sub-micron licensing business through acquisitions and partnerships," said Bing Yeh, SST's president and chief executive officer. "The acquisition of Actrans Systems is very strategic, as it complements our internal high-density data storage flash development effort and enables us to broaden our IP licensing portfolio to include NAND flash memory technologies. We believe Actrans' proprietary split-gate NAND flash memory technology is an attractive solution that will blend nicely with SST's extensive licensing business." "SST has a proven track record of turning advanced technology into licensable IP that can be leveraged by its extensive network of foundry partners," said Chiou-Feng Chen, president and founder of Actrans Systems. "We believe our flash memory technology will be complementary to SST, enabling us to seamlessly integrate our technology and resources into SST's product offering." About SuperFlash Technology SST's SuperFlash technology is a NOR type, split-gate cell architecture which uses a reliable thick-oxide process with fewer manufacturing steps resulting in a low-cost, nonvolatile memory solution with excellent data retention and higher reliability. The split-gate NOR SuperFlash architecture facilitates a simple and flexible design suitable for high performance, high reliability, small or medium sector size, in- or off-system programming and a variety of densities, all in a single CMOS-compatible technology. About Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, SST designs, manufactures and markets a diversified range of nonvolatile memory solutions, based on proprietary, patented SuperFlash technology, for high volume applications in the digital consumer, networking, wireless communications and Internet computing markets. SST's product families include various densities of high functionality flash memory components, flash mass storage products and flash microcontrollers. SST also offers its SuperFlash technology for embedded applications through its world-class manufacturing partners and technology licensees including 1st Silicon (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (Grace), IBM, Motorola, Inc., Nanotech Corporation, National Semiconductor Corporation, NEC Corporation, Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd., Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., SANYO Electric Co., Ltd., Seiko Epson Corp., Shanghai Hua Hong NEC Electronics Co., Ltd., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), Toshiba Corporation, Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation and Winbond Electronics Corp. TSMC offers embedded SuperFlash under its trademark Emb-FLASH. Further information on SST can be found on the company's Web site at http://www.sst.com/ . Forward-Looking Statements Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements regarding flash memory market conditions, the company's future financial performance, the performance of new products and the company's ability to bring new products to market that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks may include timely development, acceptance and pricing of new products, the terms and conditions associated with licensees' royalty payments, the impact of competitive products and pricing, and general economic conditions as they affect the company's customers, as well as other risks detailed from time to time in the company's SEC reports, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004. For more information about SST and the company's comprehensive list of product offerings, please call 888-SST-CHIP. Information can also be requested via email to or through SST's Web site at http://www.sst.com/ . SST's head office is located at 1171 Sonora Court, Sunnyvale, Calif.; telephone: 408-735-9110; fax: 408-735-9036. NOTE: The SST logo and SuperFlash are registered trademarks of Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. Emb-FLASH is a trademark of TSMC. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders. CONTACT: Sohrab Kianian, Vice President, Technology Licensing & Business Development of Silicon Storage Technology, Inc., +1-408-735-9110, or ; or Steve Gabriel of Porter Novelli, +1-408-369-4600, ext. 627, or , for Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. DATASOURCE: Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. CONTACT: Sohrab Kianian, Vice President, Technology Licensing & Business Development of Silicon Storage Technology, Inc., +1-408-735-9110, or ; or Steve Gabriel of Porter Novelli, +1-408-369-4600, ext. 627, or , for Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. Web site: http://www.sst.com/

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