SHANGHAI, March 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The Soitec Group (Euronext Paris), the world's leading supplier of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers and other engineered substrates for the microelectronics industry, announced today a new partnership with a distributor in China to strengthen its Far East presence. A member of the Shanghai Semiconductor Association, Cantang Electronics Technology Inc. is a professional service provider specialized in semiconductors, with staff and engineers that understand SOI technology and its markets. Under the new partnership agreement, Cantang Electronics will distribute, market and support Soitec's products and services throughout China.

We look forward to a long and successful business relationship with this well-established, reputable company, and are proud to have Cantang promoting and distributing Soitec's products and services. Cantang has a broad base of contacts and customers across China that can benefit from our technology, says Paul Boudre, COO of the Soitec Group. We already see opportunities in both RF and power management applications in China for our 200mm SOI products, with high market-growth potential.

SOI is used today in a growing number of advanced electronic devices for a wide variety of applications, ranging from automobiles to portable consumer products. SOI-based chips are cost-efficient to manufacture, and designed to be power-efficient and performance-enhancing. The timely convergence of China's technological readiness and increased industry-wide support for SOI design and manufacturing can facilitate the move to SOI by China's foundries and fabless companies.

About the Soitec Group:

The Soitec Group is the world's leading innovator and provider of the engineered substrate solutions that serve as the foundation for today's most advanced microelectronic products. The group leverages its proprietary Smart Cut(TM) technology to engineer new substrate solutions, such as silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers, which became the first high-volume application for this proprietary technology. Since then, SOI has emerged as the material platform of the future, enabling the production of higher performing, faster chips that consume less power.

Today, Soitec produces more than 80 percent of the world's SOI wafers. Headquartered in Bernin, France, with two high-volume fabs on-site, Soitec has offices throughout the United States, Japan and Taiwan, and a new production site in the process of customers' qualification in Singapore.

Two other divisions, Picogiga International (Les Ulis) and Tracit Technologies (Bernin), complete the Soitec Group. Picogiga delivers advanced substrates solutions, including III-V epiwafers and gallium nitride (GaN)-based wafers, to the compound material world for the manufacture of high-frequency electronics and other optoelectronic devices. Tracit, on the other hand, provides thin-film layer transfer technologies used to manufacture advanced substrates for power ICs and microsystems, as well as generic circuit transfer technology for applications such as image sensors and 3D-integration. Shares of the Soitec Group are listed on Euronext Paris. For more information, visit http://www.soitec.com.

Soitec, Smart Cut and UNIBOND are trademarks of S.O.I.TEC Silicon On Insulator Technologies.

To contact Cantang Electronics in China: Derek Wu, Cantang Electronics Technology Inc. Unit 11, 76 Qiqihaer Rd., Shanghai, China sales@cantang.com.cn / tel: +86-21-6589-3496 Press Contact: Camille Darnaud-Dufour Tel (France): +33(0)6-79-49-51-43 E-mail: camille.darnaud-dufour@soitec.com end-table