Hitachi and Cisco Team In Telephony Alliance

Joining forces to meet the demand in the
emerging telephony arena, Hitachi Semiconductor (America)
Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. today
announced a strategic alliance under which they will co-develop and
co-market scalable, IP telephony platforms and technologies.

The jointly developed reference platforms will serve as the building blocks
used by product designers to economically integrate IP
telephony functions into a wide range of devices such as modems,
telephones, set-top boxes, fax machines and other appliances, the two firms
stated. No financial details were released.

The platforms will be co-marketed and will be based on the integration of
Cisco NetWorks Software technologies with Hitachi SuperH RISC semiconductor
technology.

The technologies and reference platforms fall under the umbrella of the
Cisco NetWorks Program, and will be geared toward
makers of network and Internet
appliances to enable high-quality, low-cost voice and data communications
via the Internet.

“Hitachi’s semiconductor, electronics and systems solutions expertise
complements Cisco’s vision for the growth of global
networks and aligns with the current product and technology directions
which have placed Cisco at the forefront of the Internet
Revolution,” said Charles Giancarlo, senior vice president of Global
Alliances at Cisco.

“As the industry moves to embed the Internet in a wide range of new
products and applications, this alliance positions us and
our customers as leaders of a new generation of Internet-based businesses
and solutions.”

Although the telephony market is in its infancy, researchers predict
revenues to reach as high as $9 billion by 2002.

The first commercial reference designs arising from the alliance are
scheduled for availability in the first quarter of 1999.