Q: GLOBALFOUNDRIES was only established in March 2009, but industry pundits already forecast GLOBALFOUNDRIES to be a strong competitor to established foundries. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for even established foundries to entice fabless companies that sell large volumes of product and have instituted a partnership on process technology development to switch foundry providers. While it may be easy to attract small fabless companies, as they cannot afford to do their own process technology development, how does the company plan to draw large customers who are already loyal to their current foundries?

A: Since launching GLOBALFOUNDRIES, we've had the opportunity to engage with many of the world's largest fabless and fab-lite companies; and it is very clear that these companies desire more choice at the leading edge. GLOBALFOUNDRIES will be able to offer a strong alternative for advanced technologies. Our past experience as an integrated device manufacturer (IDM) gives us a unique set of capabilities in understanding how to operate as an extension of our customers' operations, and as GLOBALFOUNDRIES, we can now harness this for the entire market. The microprocessor segment is typically the first to utilize the world's most advanced process technology. Our experience ramping these technologies in high volumes and at mature yields gives us a tremendous advantage over our competitors at the leading edge.

In addition to our leading-edge technology, the talent we possess will also attract customers, large and small. GLOBALFOUNDRIES believes that talent is critical to technology innovation, manufacturing and the future of the foundry business model to effectively serve customers. Our company will be able to unleash our manufacturing excellence into the foundry market for our customers because we are well positioned to leverage global talent and connected to patient capital.

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Q: In Q1 2009, Magma Design Automation regained its momentum, registering 11 percent quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) revenue growth. In the second half of 2009, what initiatives will Magma implement to sustain its profitability, set the company apart from its competitors and improve its performance within its supply chain? What benefit does participating in the analog/mixed-signal market provide the company?

A: Magma Design Automation expects to be profitable during the next three to four quarters. Even if today's difficult economic climate continues, we have already positioned ourselves to remain stable and lucrative in 2H 2009. However, if the economy worsens, we will need to take the necessary actions to sustain our profitability. Over the past year, Magma has developed software tools that have great usability and require the effort of fewer engineers, thus enhancing the productivity of our customers' design processes. This technology achievement has allowed us to gain many customers and differentiate from competitors as we strive to provide the most user-friendly tools that produce profitable chips for our customers. During the next few months, we plan to interact with many more companies to further promote the performance advantages of our products.

Magma views the analog/mixed-signal market as the future of chip design as it is necessary in emerging semiconductor applications such as smart grid technology. The big chips that the industry typically produces cannot be used in these new applications which require that designs be combined with diodes, analog circuitry, etc. We actually first discovered the demand for the analog/mixed-signal market when our key customer, Texas Instruments, moved to analog/mixed-signal. In the past, Magma centered its efforts on wired and wireless communication to support Texas Instruments in this market. Similarly, when Texas Instruments voiced a few years ago that they would be getting involved in the analog/mixed-signal space, Magma heavily invested in it. We have already developed key analog/mixed-signal design solutions and aim to be a technology leader in this market.

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