RF Micro Devices announced that it has begun high-volume production shipments of power amplifier (PA) modules to Samsung.

Shipments of the global system for mobile communications (GSM) PA modules represent the Company's first PA sales to Samsung. The PA modules complement ongoing sales to Samsung of small signal devices, including mixers and low noise amplifiers, for use in numerous CDMA handsets. The Company anticipates PA module shipments will ramp to a multi-million dollar level this calendar year.

The power amplifier modules are designed into the recently announced SGH-R210 and SGH-R220 GSM handsets (GSM 900/1800), which feature blue LCD screens, melody creation and Internet access via WAP 1.1 Internet browser. In addition to ring tone downloading capabilities, the handsets also feature various ring tone color indicators that give users the ability to select different colors for different callers for easy identification.

Bob Bruggeworth, president of RF Micro Devices, said, "We are very pleased to extend our relationship with Samsung to include power amplifier modules. Samsung is a global leader in electronics, and we look forward to supporting these advanced GSM handsets. These power amplifier shipments complement existing small signal device shipments and demonstrate the strength of our efforts to take share in power amplifiers while further diversifying our blue-chip customer base."

In a recent report from market research firm Strategy Analytics, Samsung was estimated to have captured 10.4% of the global wireless handset market for the quarter ended March 31, 2002. For the quarter ended June 30, 2002, Samsung was among RFMD's top ten customers.

The RF3110 is a high efficiency triple-band PA module manufactured in gallium arsenide (GaAs) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT). The RF3110 features integrated high-voltage silicon CMOS power control circuitry, which helps to improve production yield and accelerate time-to-market and provides handset manufacturers the benefits of simplified phone calibration and reduced component count.

"Momentum continues to grow for the RF3110 and our family of power amplifiers with integrated power control," said Joe Grzyb, director of the power amplifier product line at RF Micro Devices. "These products represent the market's most highly integrated power amplifiers now in volume shipments. As we introduce pending products with integrated power control for multi-band and 3G devices, we expect to extend our leadership, offering handset manufacturers highly integrated solutions."