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ISD Ranked #10 Fastest Growing U.S. Technology Company By The National Technology Fast 500

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 11, 1996 - The second annual National Technology Fast 500 has ranked ISD (Information Storage Devices, Inc.), (NASDAQ:ISDI), the tenth fastest growing technology company in the United States. The ranking is based on revenue growth over the five year period between 1991 and 1995. Over that time period ISD's annual revenue grew from $294 thousand in 1991 to nearly $55.5 million in 1995. Revenues for the first half of 1996 were $23,518,000 compared to revenues of $27,239,000 for the first half of 1995.

Earlier this year, the seventeenth annual edition of the "Inc. 100" ranked ISD, makers of semiconductor voice record and playback solutions, the third fastest growing small public company in America based on revenues from 1991 to 1995. ISD was also ranked the third fastest growing technology company in the Silicon Valley in the second annual Silicon Valley Technology Fast 50 sponsored by Deloitte & Touche LLP, the NASDAQ Stock Market and Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network. The Fast 50 honors the fastest growing technology companies in Silicon Valley based on revenue growth over the past five years.

"The awards ISD has garnered over this past year are a tribute to the worldwide acceptance of our ChipCorder® technology and the plethora of applications that have been created," said David Angel, president and CEO of ISD. "The types of products that can be built using our high sound quality, single chip, voice record and playback solution are only limited by our customers' imagination."

ChipCorder Technology

ISD's patented ChipCorder technology enables a single-chip solution for voice recording and playback in a variety of consumer, communications and industrial applications. It uses a proprietary "multilevel" storage methodology in which one of more than 250 distinct voltage levels are precisely stored per memory cell. This provides approximately eight times more storage space for any given memory size than the alternative two-level, digital storage technology. ChipCorder technology enables voice and audio signals to be stored directly in their natural form into nonvolatile EEPROM memory cells, eliminating the need for external A/D and D/A circuits. This delivers a single-chip, solid-state solution that requires no software, unlike other alternatives which are more difficult to integrate.

Furthermore, ChipCorder technology offers high-quality, voice reproduction because the voice signal is stored in its direct form and not encoded or compressed. It is the only single-chip, non-volatile voice solution available. Recorded messages are retained after batteries wear out. ChipCorder devices can be recorded and re-recorded reliably over 100,000 times.

To date, ChipCorder technology has been incorporated into hundreds of products, including cellular phones, pagers, personal voice organizers, telephone answering devices, voice "message pads," greeting cards, games, toys, interactive books, alarms, point-of-sale displays, novelty items and personalized gifts. It is also found in industrial announcement/annunciator systems, instrumentation, and building security systems.

About ISD

ISD, a leading supplier of semiconductor voice record and playback solutions, provides essential products to the communications marketplace using its proprietary multilevel storage and related technologies. ISD is located at 2045 Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, Calif., 95125, USA. Telephone: (408) 369-2400. Fax: (408) 369-2422.

Note: ChipCorder is a registered trademark of ISD.


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