Magnum Semiconductor names Gopal Solanki as new CEO

Senior Industry Executive Takes Helm of Growing Consumer Chip Maker

Feb 4, 2008

Milpitas, California, Feb 4, 2008 - Magnum Semiconductor today announced the appointment of Gopal Solanki as the company's new president and Chief Executive Officer.

"Gopal Solanki has a tremendous track record of building successful semiconductor product lines in fast moving and dynamic markets," said Andy Rappaport, a member of the Board of Directors of Magnum Semiconductor, and a general partner at August Capital. "He has driven innovation and growth as an engineering leader and general manager in his past roles in several notable companies in the Silicon Valley. We are pleased to add his energy, insight, and judgment to the Magnum team," he added.

According to Solanki, "Magnum is making vital contributions to the digital video revolution. From the demanding requirements of the broadcast infrastructure, to high quality audio/video recording and playback for the home and on-the-go, we bring complete IC, software and system solutions to equipment manufacturers who serve the consumer electronics and digital entertainment markets." He continued, adding: "Magnum's sales and size more than doubled in 2007. The company has great depth in its technical talent and its pool of intellectual properties, and has built a base of business with an enviable list of the world's leading consumer electronics brand names including LG, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony. The company has exciting opportunities going forward, and I look forward to my role in helping to drive Magnum's continued growth and success."

Solanki takes over as CEO from Jack Guedj, who led Magnum Semiconductor since the company was spun-out from Cirrus Logic in 2005, and who remains with the company in an executive capacity. "Jack Guedj has done a great job of establishing Magnum as a significant player in the marketplace," noted Rappaport, adding, "The board and the entire team appreciate his efforts to date, including his role in recruiting Gopal."

Solanki comes to Magnum from NVIDIA Corporation, where he was most recently the senior vice president for that company's rapidly growing chipset business, which he built to a position of worldwide market prominence. During his 12 years at NVIDIA he also led the development of several products in that company's successful line of GPU (graphics processor unit) chips. During more than two decades in the semiconductor industry, Solanki has also held engineering and management positions at Weitek Corporation and Intel Corporation.

Solanki has a B.S. in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Roorkee, and an M.S. in computer engineering from Syracuse University, New York.

About Magnum Semiconductor

Magnum Semiconductor is a leading provider of chips, software, and platforms for consumer entertainment systems and the professional broadcast infrastructure. Magnum provides the tools and technologies for recording, storing, managing, viewing, and exchanging audio and video throughout the home, and on the go. Magnum Semiconductor is headquartered in Milpitas, California, with sales and engineering offices in Canada, China, India, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Further information is available at www.magnumsemi.com.

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Magnum Semiconductor today announced the appointment of Gopal Solanki as the company's new president and Chief Executive Officer.

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