ServerWorks Addresses Performance Issue in North Bridge in GC-LE Chipsets

Software Utility Available to Screen Boards in OEM's Existing Inventory, New

Testing Procedure Will Eliminate Future Shipment of Affected Devices

SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ServerWorks Corporation, a Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM) company and the leading independent supplier of high-performance SystemI/O™ integrated circuits for servers, workstations and storage platforms, today announced that it has identified and addressed a performance issue in the North Bridge chip in the company's Grand Champion™ LE (GC-LE) chipset. Since identifying the issue, ServerWorks has developed and delivered a software utility that allows its customers to screen out boards that contain the error. ServerWorks has provided written notification regarding the error and the software screen to all of its customers.

The performance issue, which manifests itself in a small percentage of the North Bridge devices and only in dual-IMB systems (systems that utilize two Intra Module Buses at once), results in a system hang up. With the software utility provided by ServerWorks, OEMs are able to screen all boards in inventory and identify those that have been affected. Additionally, ServerWorks is screening devices prior to shipment to eliminate further delivery of compromised product to its customers. The issue affects only the GC-LE chipsets and not other ServerWorks products.

"ServerWorks has initiated a program for its customers to return product for re-screening," said Duane Dickhut, President and CEO of ServerWorks Corporation. "Because of the time it takes to get test capacity in place for the chip-level screen, we expect a temporary delay in our ability to meet current demand for this chipset. Customers should feel comfortable knowing that we are putting the appropriate measures in place to ensure that they will not experience this issue in product received in future shipments."

All of ServerWorks customers employing dual-IMB systems have been affected by this performance issue and the GC-LE chipsets will be on allocation for a few weeks while the device-level screening program is brought to full capacity. It should be noted that ServerWorks customers using single-IMB systems have not been affected by this performance issue.

This situation is not expected to have a material impact on Broadcom's financial results.

About ServerWorks and Broadcom

ServerWorks Corporation is the leading independent supplier of high-performance system input/output (I/O) integrated circuits for servers, workstations and storage platforms. ServerWorks' SystemI/O™ silicon solutions are used pervasively by leading original equipment manufacturers. Its circuits act as the essential conduits for moving high-bandwidth data in and out of servers, to and from the external I/O, the main system memory and the system processors. ServerWorks, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Broadcom Corporation, is located in Santa Clara, Calif., and may be contacted at 1-408-922-3100 or at www.serverworks.com .

Broadcom Corporation is the leading provider of highly integrated silicon solutions that enable broadband communications and networking of voice, video and data services. Using proprietary technologies and advanced design methodologies, Broadcom designs, develops and supplies complete system-on-a-chip solutions and related hardware and software applications for every major broadband communications market. Broadcom's diverse product portfolio includes solutions for digital cable and satellite set-top boxes; cable and DSL modems and residential gateways; high-speed transmission and switching for local, metropolitan, wide area and storage networking; home and wireless networking; cellular and terrestrial wireless communications; Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateway and telephony systems; broadband network processors; and SystemI/O™ server solutions. These technologies and products support Broadcom's core mission: Connecting everything®.

Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and may be contacted at 1-949-450-8700 or at www.broadcom.com .

Safe Harbor Statement of Broadcom Corporation under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

All statements included or incorporated by reference in this release, other than statements or characterizations of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, management's beliefs, and certain assumptions made by us. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will," "should," "would," "could," "potential," "continue," similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words, and include, among others, statements regarding our ability to eliminate further delivery of affected products, our ability to bring the device-level screening program to full capacity on a timely basis and the impact of the performance issue on our financial results. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and are based upon the information available to us at this time. Such information is subject to change, and we will not necessarily inform you of such changes. These statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors.

Important factors that may cause such a difference for Broadcom in connection with ServerWorks' SystemI/O™ products include, but are not limited to, general economic and political conditions and specific conditions in the markets we address, including the continuing significant economic slowdown and volatility in the technology sector and semiconductor industry, trends in the broadband communications markets in various geographic regions, and possible disruption in commercial activities related to terrorist activity or armed conflict in the United States and other locations; the quality of our SystemI/O products and any remediation costs; changes in ServerWorks' relationship with Intel Corporation; competitive pressures and other factors such as the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products; the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom's technologies and products in the markets for high performance SystemI/O and networking products; delays in the adoption and acceptance of industry standards in those markets; the loss of a key customer; the volume of our product sales and pricing concessions on volume sales; the effects of new and emerging technologies; the timing and successful completion of technology and product development through volume production; our ability to retain and hire key executives, technical personnel and other employees in the numbers, with the capabilities, and at the compensation levels needed to implement our business and product plans; our ability to specify, develop or acquire, complete, introduce, market and transition to volume production new products and technologies in a timely manner; the timing of customer-industry qualification and certification of our products and the risks of non-qualification or non-certification; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders and the ability of our customers to manage their inventories; changes in our product or customer mix; intellectual property disputes and customer indemnification claims and other types of litigation risk; the availability and pricing of third party semiconductor foundry and assembly capacity and raw materials; fluctuations in the manufacturing yields of our third party semiconductor foundries and other problems or delays in the fabrication, assembly, testing or delivery of our products; the risks of producing products with new suppliers and at new fabrication and assembly facilities; problems or delays that we may face in shifting our products to smaller geometry process technologies and in achieving higher levels of design integration; the effectiveness of our expense and product cost control and reduction efforts; the risks and uncertainties associated with our international operations, particularly in light of recent events; the effects of natural disasters, public health emergencies, international conflicts and other events beyond our control; the level of orders received that can be shipped in a fiscal quarter; and other factors.

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss the foregoing risks as well as other important risk factors that could contribute to such differences or otherwise affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statement for any reason.

Broadcom®, the pulse logo, Connecting everything®, Grand Champion™, ServerWorks™, the ServerWorks logo and SystemI/O™ are trademarks of Broadcom Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

     ServerWorks Press Contact
     Tammy Lee
     Lee Communications
     877-677-9533
     tammy@leecommunications.com

     ServerWorks Marketing Contact
     Krishna Anne
     Director, Strategic Marketing
     408-922-7131
     krishnaa@broadcom.com

     Broadcom Press Contact
     Bill Blanning
     Sr. Director, Corporate Communications
     949-926-5555
     blanning@broadcom.com

     Broadcom Investor Relations Contact
     Peter Andrew Sr. Director, Investor Relations
     949-926-5663
     andrewtp@broadcom.com 

SOURCE  Broadcom
    -0-                             07/09/2003
    /CONTACT:  Press, Tammy Lee of Lee Communications, +1-877-677-9533,
tammy@leecommunications.com , or Marketing, Krishna Anne, Director, Strategic
Marketing, +1-408-922-7131, krishnaa@broadcom.com , both for ServerWorks; or
Press, Bill Blanning, Sr. Director, Corporate Communications, +1-949-926-5555,
blanning@broadcom.com , or Investor Relations, Peter Andrew, Sr. Director,
Investor Relations, +1-949-926-5663, andrewtp@broadcom.com , both of Broadcom/
    /Web site:  http://www.serverworks.com /
    /Web site:  http://www.broadcom.com /
    (BRCM)

CO:  Broadcom; ServerWorks Corporation
ST:  California
IN:  CPR HRD STW
SU:



EC 
-- LAW083 --
7726 07/09/2003 17:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com