RS Components and Renesas Electronics Europe sign Distribution Agreement

OXFORD, UK & DUESSELDORF, Germany, 8 May, 2012 — RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the world’s leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products, and Renesas Electronics Europe, a wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corporation, the world's number one supplier of microcontrollers (MCUs) and a leading provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, have signed a joint distribution agreement with the purpose to offer online sampling services to the engineering community.

Under the terms of the agreement, RS will be offering online services to supply customers across Europe with newly introduced products in the Renesas microcontroller range as well as useful resources such as datasheets, demos and application notes. Samples will be delivered within 24 hours to meet the urgent requirements of design engineers and small batch production buyers.

In addition to enabling customers to purchase Renesas samples, RS will later offer all parts in the Renesas Electronics product portfolio, comprising microcontrollers, SoCs, as well as analogue and power devices, together with supporting development tools.

Fred Knowles, Head of Product Management – Electronics at RS Components said, “Renesas Electronics is ranked top of the league of microcontroller suppliers and this agreement with a first-class semiconductor vendor underlines our commitment to provide engineers with the utmost quality and selection of products for their designs.”

Achim Mescher, Director of Sales Distribution Europe at Renesas Electronics Europe added, “In order to optimise our sampling services, and to enhance our Ecommerce platform for the European customer base, we have decided to enter a partnership with RS Components. RS Components operates a highly efficient distribution service throughout Europe, and we are convinced that RS Components is the right partner to complement our current distribution network in Europe. RS Components’ outstanding Ecommerce expertise combined with their active support for designers and the company’s unrelenting dedication to new product introductions motivated us to appoint RS as a distribution partner for our European electronics business.”

For more information, and to order samples of Renesas Electronics’ microcontrollers from RS, visit: http://www.rs-components.com/renesas

About Renesas Electronics Europe

Renesas delivers trusted embedded design innovation with complete semiconductor solutions that enable billions of connected, intelligent devices to enhance the way people work and live – securely and safely. As the number one global supplier of microcontrollers, and a leader in A&P and SoC products, Renesas provides the expertise, quality, and comprehensive solutions for a broad range of Automotive, Industrial, Home Electronics (HE), Office Automation (OA) and Information Communication Technology (ICT) applications to help shape a limitless future.

Renesas Electronics Corporation was established in 2010 and is headquartered in Japan.With over 800 hardware and software alliance partners worldwide, it has the industry’s largest local support network. Renesas Electronics’ European structure is comprised of three business units – the Automotive, the Broad-based and the Industrial Solution Business Unit.

Further information about Renesas Electronics Europe is available at www.renesas.com

Renesas Electronics Europe is also on social media at http://twitter.com/Renesas_Europe, http://facebook.com/RenesasEurope and http://youtube.com/RenesasPresents.

The content in the press release, including, but not limited to, product prices and specifications, is based on the information as of the date indicated on the document, but may be subject to change without prior notice.