NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR ACQUIRES ASSETS OF EAST COAST LABS, INC.

Oct. 9, 1996 -- National Semiconductor Corporation® today announced it has purchased certain assets of East Coast Labs, Inc. (ECL), a Massachusetts company with its principal place of business in Salem, New Hampshire. ECL, founded in 1992, is an analog/mixed-signal design center utilizing state-of-the-art design tools and methodologies. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

National said the purchase is intended to augment its existing analog design expertise and to promote the creation of new, high value products for National's customers. ECL has worked with National on a contract basis since 1993, providing innovative and cost-effective designs for data acquisition and other complex signal processing applications. Products designed by ECL are expected to be introduced in the first quarter of calendar 1997.

Peter R. Holloway, president and founder of ECL, said "National's strategic focus on systems on a chip and its commitment to its analog core business are well aligned with the ambitions and skill sets of the ECL team. We are excited about their new vision and look forward to future product successes as part of National Semiconductor."

Jim Diller Jr., vice president of National's Data Acquisition product line, said that "The ECL purchase brings with it a great talent pool of highly skilled analog engineers."

Diller said National also hopes to leverage ECL's east coast location, close to National's new 8-inch wafer fabrication facility now nearing completion at the company's South Portland, Maine manufacturing site.

National Semiconductor produces analog and mixed-signal based silicon solutions for the information highway, communications, consumer and industrial markets. National Semiconductor is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and has 19,000 employees worldwide. In fiscal 1996, the company reported sales of $2.6 billion. Additional company and product information is available on the World Wide Web at www.national.com.