Vitesse Bolsters Ethernet Team

CAMARILLO, Calif. -- Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. (Nasdaq:VTSS) today announced that two industry veterans of Ethernet systems and switch IC marketing have joined its Ethernet Products Division. Mr. Richard Martin enters the newly created position of director of strategic marketing and is responsible for identifying and evaluating emerging Ethernet applications and business opportunities. Mr. Claus Stetter serves as the worldwide product line director for Vitesse's award winning Ethernet Switch IC products. Both Ethernet marketing executives report to Martyn Humphries, vice president and general manager of the division.

"The wealth of Ethernet knowledge and specific marketing experience of Richard and Claus will bring Vitesse's Ethernet market strategy into laser-sharp focus," stated Humphries. "Worldwide, Vitesse is already known as the pre-eminent Gigabit Ethernet supplier to OEMs and ODMs. Now, with these key market-performers on board, Vitesse will realize the results of its plan for a complete solution offering that enables the convergence of voice, video and data services. It is an exciting time to be part of Vitesse."

Vitesse has been recognized as the industry's most comprehensive and integrated Gigabit Ethernet silicon provider. The company is the first to deliver a low power, 8-port, integrated Switch IC and PHY, and most recently it introduced feature-rich reference systems for state-of-the-art Power-over-Ethernet applications together with a royalty-free software stack. With today's rapid incorporation of Voice-over-IP and Power-over-Ethernet (IEEE 802.3af) into low cost, high volume, Layer 2 Gigabit switch applications, OEMs, ODMs and Contract Manufacturers (CMs) need cost effective, turnkey hardware and software solutions to accelerate time-to-market, and to reduce development costs. Vitesse Ethernet products are here now, and they meet not only these current needs, but the future demand to enable the convergence of voice, video and data service in equipment deployed throughout corporate, carrier, small enterprise and home networks.

Successful and Experienced in Ethernet

Richard Martin is a senior-level business executive with a track record of establishing leadership market positions for major technology companies. Prior to joining Vitesse, Mr. Martin worked at Broadcom as the director of product marketing for the successful StrataSwitch, RoboSwitch and StrataXGS product lines. He is credited with securing key design wins, defining and implementing winning strategic marketing plans, and defining next-generation roadmaps. He has also served as director of product marketing for Cisco Systems' Catalyst Switch family (Catalyst 2900 XL, Catalyst 3500 XL and Catalyst 1900). In this role, he led his team to achieve the number one market share position and ramped the product line to a $2 billion dollar run rate. Mr. Martin's other technology experience includes management roles at Apple Computer, Bell Canada and Nortel Networks. He graduated with honors from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, with a bachelor's degree in computer science, and he holds an MBA from Queen's University, Canada.

Claus Stetter has extensive experience defining product requirements, managing international teams and exceeding revenue goals for semiconductors for Enterprise LAN, SMB and SOHO markets. Formerly a senior product line manager for Broadcom, Mr. Stetter was responsible for the Robo-HS Gigabit Ethernet switch product line and for a family of Faster Ethernet Switch and PHY devices. He joined Broadcom through the Allayer Communications acquisition, where he introduced the world's first 12 Gigabit Ethernet plus 10 Gigabit Ethernet single-chip switch IC. He has also worked in Networking IC marketing roles for Infineon Technologies, Fujitsu Microelectronics in San Jose, Calif., and in Germany. Mr. Stetter holds a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Reutlingen, Germany.

Vitesse Semiconductor Corp.