There are three types of electronic devices: memory, processors, and logic. Memory devices store random information (contents of a spreadsheet or database); processors execute software instructions to perform a wide variety of tasks (running a data processing program or video game); and logic provides specific functions (communications between devices, and every other function a system must perform). There are two categories of logic devices: fixed or custom, and programmable or changeable. We are in the programmable logic business.

Xilinx leads the Programmable Logic Device (PLD) market - one of the fastest growing segments of the semiconductor industry. This market features a revolutionary technology called the field programmable gate array (FPGA) that our company pioneered in 1984.

Xilinx is the world's leading supplier of programmable logic solutions. We supply customers with "off-the-shelf" logic devices that customers can program to perform specific functions using the development tools we provide.

This programmability provides a revolutionary alternative to fixed or custom logic devices that typically require many months to design, test, and manufacture. Xilinx customers enjoy the benefit of faster time-to-market and increased product design flexibility as a result.

Our company's business is drawn from a variety of industry segments. In recent years, a large portion of our revenues came from the communications marketplace. However, we have become increasingly more diversified to include the consumer, industrial, and automotive sectors.

You can find Xilinx chips in a wide variety of digital electronic applications ranging from wireless base stations to HDTV to portable handsets.

Our extensive product line includes silicon solutions like the Virtex™ series FPGAs (high performance FPGAs for networking, communications, and video/imaging applications); Spartan™ FPGAs (ideal for high volume applications); and CoolRunner™ CPLD families (Complex Programmable Logic Devices that offer ultra low cost and low power). We also offer a powerful suite of high performance software design tools.

Xilinx has over 21,000 customers around the globe, including Alcatel, Cisco Systems, EMC, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Lucent Technologies, and Motorola. Most of our sales are handled by outside partners: both large distributors and independent sales representatives.

The company has a very flexible business model that has contributed to our success as an employer and a competitor. We are a "fabless" supplier and do not manufacture our logic devices. Instead, we have formed close strategic alliances with chip manufacturers like UMC and Toshiba. This strategy, along with outsourcing most of sales, allows us to focus more of our energies on R&D, marketing and technical support. The resulting flexibility gives us the ability to rearrange business priorities quickly as we respond to the cyclical nature of the semiconductor market. It also has made it easier for the company to avoid layoffs in periods of downturn.