During the first quarter of 2001, Intersil won designs with five major laptop PC manufacturers. These programs should reach volume production in the second half of 2001, as laptop PCs become widely available with a built-in wireless LAN option powered by Intersil. Intersil is well ahead of 802.11b competition, offering unique designs and complementary software for global customers first. We continue to win new designs for our Endura family of power management ICs for high-end PCs and network servers. We believe that this strategic alliance will help provide significant growth and extend margins within our communications analog portfolio.
Automotive margins are significantly below our communications and other analog products.
We anticipate that the consolidation of our manufacturing operations will improve operating performance through increased efficiencies. The plant closure will be completed during the next 12-18 months, while the company continues to pursue potential buyers of the automotive IC business and the facility. During the first quarter, Intersil completed the sale of its discrete power product group to Fairchild Semiconductor. We believe that our balanced portfolio and strong balance sheet improve our financial stability during current industry conditions, and our focus on wireless access and communications analog markets helps position us for growth when the industry recovers. About Intersil Irvine, California-based Intersil is a leading supplier of semiconductors, reference designs and software for wireless access and communications analog markets.