CATALYST SEMICONDUCTOR EXPANDS IN SOUTH AFRICA

(PRWEB) December 20, 2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CATALYST SEMICONDUCTOR EXPANDS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Sunnyvale, Calif. (December 18, 2002) — Catalyst Semiconductor (Nasdaq: CATS) today announced

MB Silicon Systems (Pty) Ltd , headquartered in Houghton, South Africa, has been appointed as

a Catalyst sales representative and distributor for South Africa. MB Silicon Systems will

distribute all Catalyst’s programmable products, including Flash memories, parallel and

serial EEPROMs, NVRAMs, Digitally Programmable Potentiometers (DPP™) and microcontroller

supervisory circuits with EEPROM memory.

“MB Silicon Systems rapidly expanded its semiconductor market share in South Africa. Their

solid experience and customer knowledge within our target consumer, industrial and

communication market segments will support our 2003 growth plans,” said Dave Lathan,

Catalyst’s Vice President of European Sales. “Acting as both our representative and

distributor, MB Silicon Systems is able to serve the local needs of our customers with

reliable delivery, technical service and competitive pricing.”

Maks Buljanovic, managing director of MB Silicon Systems commented, “Catalyst Semiconductor’s

EEPROM memory and mixed signal integrated products are key building blocks in major

customer systems in South Africa. With our local technical support and Catalyst’s quality

reputation, broad EEPROM product line and competitive price posture, we look forward to

rapid business success and expansion.”

About MB Silicon Systems (Pty) Ltd

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Established in 1997, MB Silicon Systems (Pty) Ltd is a privately owned, ISO 9002

registered electronics component distributor and manufacturers representative. Headquartered

in Houghton, South Africa, MB Silicon Systems covers all of South Africa.

MB Silicon Systems has distribution agreements with such leading firms as: Abracon, Averlogic,

California Micro Devices, Central Semiconductor, Clear Logic, Enhanced Memory Systems, E-tec, Jennings

Technologies, Maxwell Technologies, Micrel, Ramtron, Spinner, Tyco Electronics AMP GmbH

(formerly Corcom), and Xmultiple. Additional information is available at http://www.mbsiliconsystems.co.za.

About Catalyst Semiconductor

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Founded in 1985, Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

The Company is a developer and marketer of programmable products used in telecommunications,

networking systems, computation, automotive, industrial and consumer markets. The Company

designs and markets a broad range of programmable products including Flash Memories, Parallel

and Serial EEPROMs with I2C®, SPI™and Microwire interfaces, NVRAMs, Digitally Programmable

Potentiometers, Microcontroller Supervisory circuits and other programmable Mixed Signal

products. Typical applications for the Company’s products include optical networks, modems,

wireless LANs, network cards, PC BIOS, DIMM modules, cellular telephones, digital satellite

box receivers, set-top boxes and Internet routers. Catalyst’s Quality Management System is

ISO 9001 certified. Additional information about Catalyst Semiconductor is available on

the Company’s web site at http://www.catalyst-semiconductor.com.

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