Partner Press Release
Hitachi Semiconductor and Avnet Conduct Successful Trial of new RosettaNet E-Business Standards

For Release October 10, 2000

SAN JOSE

Standardized Partner Interface Processes (PIP) leverage speed and global reach of the Internet, ease e-business implementation between partners Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc. and Avnet, Inc. today announced they are jointly conducting live design registration transactions for Hitachi's semiconductor products, based on standard RosettaNet e-business processes. Founded by leading electronics industry supply-chain partners, RosettaNet is a global consortium dedicated to developing and promoting standardized business-to-business interactions that enable the industry to implement and conduct e-business more easily over the Internet. Hitachi Semiconductor and Avnet are both active in RosettaNet at the board level and engaged in the definition and development of the standards at the working level.

"As members of the global electronics industry, Hitachi Semiconductor and Avnet are using one element of the RosettaNet infrastructure in a significant step toward enabling seamless business transactions on a global basis," said Peter Clark, president and CEO, Hitachi Semiconductor (America). "With RosettaNet implementation as a key part of our e-business strategies, all of the players in our supply chain can strengthen customer relationships, improve operational efficiencies, increase revenue opportunities, and reduce costs."

In July 2000, Hitachi Semiconductor and Avnet, already business partners, committed to their initial PIP (Partner Interface Processes) trial. Avnet is now using the Internet to send socket registration requests to Hitachi using PIP 5C2, which automates much of the process of registration approval and significantly reduces the turnaround time through both companies' sales, operations and e-business systems.

"In an effort to further integrate our companies' supply chains, Avnet and Hitachi Semiconductor have successfully implemented the RosettaNet standards, meeting the October 10, 2000 readiness deadline," said David Cruse, vice president supply chain integration, Avnet. "Collectively, we have been able to reduce cycle time on the exchange of design engineering information."

The key to RosettaNet's standardization is the transactional interface between two partners in a supply chain, called Partner Interface Processes (PIPs). A PIP depicts the activities, decisions, and interactions that fulfill a business transaction between the parties. PIPs are designed to integrate seamlessly and will offer turnkey solutions for over 100 common e-business requirements. Using a suite of PIPs, companies can rapidly engage and efficiently fulfill pricing, catalog, purchase and order tracking requirements and a spectrum of other functions. Previous alternatives offered limited scope and required expensive setups for each unique relationship.

About Avnet
Arizona-based Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT), and is one of the world's largest distributors of semiconductors, interconnect, passive and electromechanical components from leading manufacturers. Serving customers in 60 countries, Avnet markets, inventories and adds value to these products and provides world-class supply-chain management and engineering design services. A Fortune 500 company, Avnet reported sales of $9.1 billion for FY 00 (year ended June 30, 2000). The Company's web site is located at www.avnet.com.

About Hitachi Semiconductor (America), Inc.
Hitachi Semiconductor (America), Inc. -- a subsidiary of Hitachi America, Ltd., in turn a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT) -- supports the requirements of the North American marketplace with a broad range of standard and low-power semiconductor solutions. Offering some of the industry's most popular RISC microprocessors and memory components among other semiconductor solutions, Hitachi provides chips to the world's leading device manufacturers within industrial, consumer and emerging market applications. Hitachi's substantial design engineering, research and development facilities in the United States help bring the world's best technology to U.S. customers.

Readers can find additional product and contact information on Hitachi Semiconductor (America), Inc.'s Web site at http://www.hitachi.com/semiconductor or by calling (800) 285-1601.