News Release: Dspfactory wins prestigious Swiss Economic Award

From: Dspfactory - May 12, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dspfactory wins prestigious Swiss Economic Award
--National prize recognizes outstanding entrepreneurial achievement

MARIN, SWITZERLAND, May 12, 2003 -- Dspfactory, a leading provider of
programmable digital signal processing (DSP) technology for hearing aids,
headsets, PDAs, and other portable devices, has won the 2003 Swiss Economic
Award, the top national prize for emerging entrepreneurs and companies in
Switzerland. The award was presented Friday to Dspfactory SA president
Peter Balsiger at a gala dinner in Thun as part of the annual Swiss
Economic Forum.

"I'm proud to accept this award on Dspfactory's behalf, which is a tribute
both to the success of our company in a highly competitive international
market and to the strong spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation in Swiss
industry," said Balsiger.

Dr. Balsiger founded a world-class ASIC design centre that began as a
spin-off from the University of Neuchâtel's Institute of Microtechnology
and which subsequently became part of Dspfactory Ltd., a Canadian company
in 2001. Its innovative chip design processes, combined with algorithms and
related system design technologies developed at Dspfactory SA's parent
Canadian facility, create a powerful but ultra-miniature DSP
system-on-a-chip that delivers breakthrough sound clarity in hearing aids,
headsets, and other audio-centric communications devices. Its combination
of ultra-small size and ultra-low power consumption put it in a class of
its own.

Dspfactory's technology has quickly captured a significant share of a
fast-growing global market. Since 2001, sales have grown more than ten-fold
while the company has more than doubled in size, creating dozens of new
high-tech jobs in Switzerland and Canada.

The Swiss Economic Award (http://www.swisseconomic.ch) recognizes
outstanding entrepreneurial achievement by innovative companies. The
rigorous selection process includes multi-day site visits by an expert
panel and a presentation before a main jury. As part of its first-place
finish, Dspfactory was presented a cheque for 30,000 Swiss francs (CHF).

"Leading-edge microchip technology developed at our Marin site has been a
cornerstone of the overall success of Dspfactory," said Dspfactory Ltd.
company President and CEO Robert Tong. "We're delighted by this recognition
of the entrepreneurial achievements of Peter and our entire team."

About Dspfactory
Dspfactory Ltd., a fabless semiconductor company, is a leading-edge
developer of ultra-miniaturized, ultra-low power, software-programmable,
digital signal processing (DSP) technology. Dspfactory's mission is to
embed its unique technology ubiquitously into a wide range of market
applications. Its target markets include hearing aids, headsets, personal
digital assistants, personal digital audio players, embedded sensors,
baseband wireless devices, cellular telephones, or any other portable,
battery-powered DSP-based product where size and power consumption are as
important as flexible, advanced software processing capabilities. To
support the development and implementation of signal processing software
solutions on its technology platforms, Dspfactory also provides a complete
set of easy-to-use support tools and services, ranging from software
development and testing tools to custom DSP software development and
engineering services. For more information, visit
http://www.dspfactory.com.

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Media Contacts:
Geoff Bellew
VP Sales and Marketing
Dspfactory Ltd.
Tel: +1 519 884 9696 Ext. 2280
Mobile: +1 519 721 7807
E-mail: geoff.bellew@dspfactory.com

Peter Balsiger
President
Dspfactory SA
Tel: +41 32 755 74 00
E-mail: info@dspfactory.ch