SAN JOSE, California, February 6 /PRNewswire/ --

- Acquisition Expands and Strengthens Atmel's Proprietary Microcontroller
Product Portfolio

Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) today announced that it has signed a
definitive agreement to acquire Quantum Research Group Ltd. ("Quantum"), the
leading independent developer of capacitive sensing IP and solutions for user
interfaces. The acquisition of Quantum provides Atmel with an immediate
presence in touch sensing, one of the fastest growing markets for
microcontrollers. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Atmel's net
income per share in the fourth quarter of 2008 and thereafter.

"This transaction is an important step in our strategy to expand and
strengthen our proprietary microcontroller product portfolio and accelerate
Atmel's profitable growth," said Steve Laub, Atmel's President and Chief
Executive Officer. "The market for touch sense technologies is experiencing
explosive growth, and Quantum has been a pioneer in this market since its
founding in 1996. Indeed, Quantum's technology has revolutionized the way
consumers experience and interact with electronics. By integrating Quantum's
capacitive sensing capabilities with Atmel's microcontroller technology, we
will be able to offer best-in-class user interface solutions that we expect
to differentiate Atmel and drive significant growth. In addition, we expect
to substantially increase Quantum's customer reach by leveraging Atmel's
global sales and marketing network. This acquisition is a natural extension
of the partnership we have had with Quantum. We look forward to capitalizing
on each company's technology leadership and the product synergies created by
this transaction to deliver even greater value to our customers and
shareholders."

Offering a wide variety of touch and proximity sensing solutions,
privately-held Quantum is the leading independent supplier of capacitive
sensing solutions. Capacitive sensing products are rapidly penetrating the
overall touch sensing technology market, which is expected to grow from over
US$1 billion in 2007 to more than US$3 billion in 2011(1). Touch sensing in
mobile phones alone is expected to grow from 50 million units in 2007 to 
400 million units by 2011(2). Quantum's innovative touchpad navigation
technologies support a wide range of markets and applications, including
mobile phone handsets, consumer electronics (such as personal media players
and audio/video systems), home appliances, home security, PC peripherals,
medical, automotive, and industrial equipment. Quantum's products are sold to
an extensive base of blue chip customers including all of the world's leading
mobile phone handset manufacturers as well as General Electric, LG
Electronics, Philips, Samsung, Siemens VDO Automotive, Sony, Toshiba,
Whirlpool, and others.

"As our IP has been optimized to run on Atmel's microcontrollers, the
acquisition will allow Quantum to significantly expand and support its
capacitive touch customer base by allowing us to make use of Atmel's broad
technical and sales resources," said Hal Philipp, Chief Executive Officer of
Quantum Research Group. "We are delighted to join with Atmel and look forward
to jointly capitalizing on the many benefits created by this transaction."

Terms and Approvals

Under the terms of the agreement, Atmel will pay approximately 
US$88 million in cash at closing. Upon the satisfaction of certain 
contingencies over the next three years, certain Quantum shareholders may
also receive up to an additional US$42 million in cash and Atmel common
stock, the ratio of which will be determined by Atmel at closing.

The acquisition has been approved by Atmel's Board of Directors and is
expected to close in the first quarter of 2008, subject to customary closing
conditions and regulatory approval. Following the completion of the
transaction, Quantum will become part of Atmel's microcontroller business
unit, and Mr. Philipp will join Atmel.

Conference Call

Atmel will hold a teleconference to discuss this transaction as well as
its fourth quarter and full year 2007 financial results at 2:00 p.m. PT
today. The conference call will be webcast live and can also be monitored by
dialing +1-800-374-0405 or +1-706-634-5185. The conference ID number is
31494328 and participants are encouraged to initiate their calls at least 
10 minutes in advance of the 2:00 p.m. PT start time to ensure a timely
connection. The webcast can be accessed at http://www.atmel.com/ir/ and will
be archived for 12 months.

A replay of the conference call will be also available today at
approximately 5:00 p.m. PT and will run for 48 hours. The replay access
numbers are +1-800-642-1687 within the U.S. and +1-706-645-9291 for all 
other locations. The access code is 31494328.

About Quantum Research Group

Quantum is a leading provider of capacitive touch sense products and
technologies. The Company's award winning QTouch(TM) and QMatrix(TM)
technologies are embedded in over 30 dedicated touch sense controllers from
Quantum as well as licensed to silicon partners, addressing various
applications in the mobile communication and entertainment markets as well as
in PC, appliances and automotive applications. Quantum's sensing technology
is based on its patented charge-transfer methodology and addresses
applications with multiple buttons, wheels, sliders, track pads and touch
screens. Quantum had revenues of approximately US$21 million for the twelve
months ended December 31, 2007 which represented an increase of approximately
75% over 2006. The Company is based in Hamble, England with offices in
Ireland, Germany, Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea and the United States.
Additional company and product information is available at
http://www.qprox.com.

About Atmel

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of
microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio
frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's broadest
intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel provides the
electronics industry with complete system solutions focused on consumer,
industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive markets.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements

Information in this release regarding Atmel's forecasts, outlook,
expectations and beliefs are forward-looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties and may be identified by the use of words such as "expect,"
"anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "believe" or other similar terms or
phrases. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based
upon information available to Atmel as of the date of this release, which may
change, and Atmel assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking
statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and
actual results could differ materially from Atmel's current expectations.
Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences and other risks
are detailed from time to time in Atmel's SEC reports and filings, including
Atmel's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, filed on June 8,
2007, as amended on June 27, 2007, and Atmel's Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended September 30, 2007, filed on November 8, 2007.

(1)Source: iSuppli
    (2)Source: Strategy Analytics

    Investor Contact:                Media Contact:
    Robert Pursel                    Barrett Golden / Mike Cuneo    
    Director of Investor Relations   Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
    +1-408-487-2677                  +1-212-355-4449

Web site:  http://www.atmel.com