OTTAWA, CANADA -- (Marketwire) -- 06/24/09 -- Zarlink Semiconductor (TSX: ZL) today announced that its new ZLynx 4x10 Gbps active optical cable with quad small form-factor (QSFP) terminations for InfiniBand QDR is available for sampling. The new cable is providing infrastructure links between Mellanox (booth #520) and the ISCnet InfiniBand network at this week's International Supercomputing (ISC'09) conference in Hamburg, Germany.

Zarlink offers the industry's most comprehensive portfolio of active optical cables and parallel transceiver modules for data center and computer cluster interconnect. The company's new ZLynx 4x10 Gbps optical cable is the latest in a comprehensive portfolio of market-proven products with integrated CX4, hybrid CX4 to QSFP and QSFP terminations that now support data rates up to 10 Gbps/channel. Zarlink's ZLynx active optical cables have been tested, validated and purchased by leading computer and switch vendors.

"We are solidifying our leadership position in the active optical cable market, with new products for data center interconnect," said Ram Rao, product marketing manager with Zarlink's Optical Products group. "We were the first volume producer of active optical cables, with ZLynx cables now deployed in data centers worldwide. Building on this market-proven expertise, our new ZLynx cable meets performance, power and cable management requirements as QDR speeds begin to dominate data center deployments."

The ZLynx QDR cable provides key performance and cost advantages for data centers. The cable delivers critical ultra-high signal integrity required as speeds migrate to 10 Gbps, allowing operators to meet the bandwidth demands of data-intense services such as advanced mobile communications and cloud computing applications. In addition, the light-weight, flexible cable simplifies equipment installation and eliminates airflow concerns to reduce cooling requirements and satisfy "green" performance requirements for data centers.

About Zarlink Semiconductor

For over 30 years, Zarlink Semiconductor has delivered semiconductor solutions that drive the capabilities of voice, enterprise, broadband and wireless communications. The Company's success is built on its technology strengths including voice and data networks, optoelectronics and ultra low-power communications. For more information, visit www.zarlink.com.

Shareholders and other individuals wishing to receive, free of charge, copies of the reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Regulatory Authorities, should visit the Company's web site at www.zarlink.com or contact Investor Relations.

Certain statements in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, among others, the following: our dependence on the successful development and market introduction of new products; our ability to integrate any business, technologies, product lines or services that we have or will acquire; our dependence on revenue generation from our legacy products in order to fund development of our new products; current market conditions, including the lack of liquidity in the markets and economic slowdown, may increase our operating costs or reduce our revenue, thereby negatively impacting our operating results; our ability to operate profitably and generate positive cash flows in the future; the impact of the current economic crisis on our suppliers and customers and our ability to transfer parts to other suppliers; our dependence on our foundry suppliers and third-party subcontractors; order cancellations and deferrals by our customers; our substantial indebtedness could adversely affect our financial position; the cost and accounting implications of compliance with new accounting standards; and other factors referenced in our Annual Report on Form 20-F. Investors are encouraged to consider the risks detailed in this filing.

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