Maria Quillard
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XILINX REPORTS FISCAL 1997 THIRD QUARTER REVENUES UP 4% SEQUENTIALLY

SAN JOSE, CA, JANUARY 15, 1997 --Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) reported that revenues for the December ending quarter increased 4% sequentially to $135.6 million, but were down 6% from the $144.1 million reported in the comparable quarter last year. Net income rose to $26.2 million, up from last quarter's $24.6 million before the non-recurring write-off of the antifuse product family, but down from $32.2 million in the same quarter a year ago. Third quarter earnings were $0.33 per share, an increase of $0.02 from the September quarter before the non-recurring write-off, but were down $0.08 from last year's third quarter.

"The December quarter showed signs of improvement," stated Mr. Wim Roelandts, Xilinx's chief executive officer. "Despite a competitive pricing environment, we were able to report an increase in our gross margin over the September 1996 quarter. This quarter's gross margin of 61.5% continues to be well within our stated target of 60-62%."

From a product standpoint, revenues from the cost-optimized XC5200 family increased 45% this quarter to comprise 8% of total revenue. The new XC9500 in-system programmable CPLD family contributed its first $1 million in revenues. Software revenues were up 13% sequentially and, for the second quarter in a row, new software seats increased by nearly 1,400 units. Historically, additional software units have been one of the best indicators of future silicon sales.

Geographically, international revenues grew to nearly $51 million to comprise 38% of sales. Revenues from both Japan and Asia-Pacific totaled $23 million with each region growing over 15% from the prior quarter. The US direct channel was this quarter's other bright spot. After three quarters of declining growth, the direct channel grew 18.5%, indicating the likelihood that many of Xilinx's larger customers' have resumed their normal ordering patterns after working through excess inventories.

Commenting on next quarter, Mr. Roelandts stated, "On the one hand, we begin the March quarter with approximately the same backlog as the December quarter, but the March quarter has historically been Xilinx's strongest bookings quarter. Without any major holidays and with some additional contribution from new products in the March quarter, we expect to show continued sequential revenue growth in our fourth fiscal quarter."

Certain statements in this press release are forward looking. Actual results could differ materially. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ are the following: availability of components, the lack of visibility into our customers' programmable logic inventory levels, dependence on third party wafer suppliers, concentration of bookings and shipments at the end of the fiscal quarter, the timely availability and acceptance of new products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, and other risks listed on pages 9-12 of Xilinx's 10Q for the period ended September 28, 1996, and in other SEC filings.

Founded in 1984, Xilinx is the world's largest supplier of programmable logic solutions comprising industry leading device architectures and world class design software. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., the company pioneered the market for field programmable gate array (FPGA) semiconductor devices that provide high integration and quick time-to-market for electronic equipment manufacturers in the computer, peripherals, telecommunications, networking, industrial control, instrumentation, and high-reliability/military markets.

Summary Consolidated Financial Statements (Thousands except per share amounts)

(1) The results for the nine month period ended December 28, 1996 include a $5.0 million write-off of the Company's XC8100 product family. Excluding the impact of the XC8100 write-off, operating income, net income and net income per share were $120.9 million, $83.2 million and $1.05 respectively for the nine month period ended December 28, 1996.

(2) The results for the nine month period ended December 30, 1995 include a $19.4 million write-off of in-process technology relating to the purchase of NeoCAD, Inc. Excluding the impact of the write-off of in-process technology, income before taxes, net income and net income per share were $136.9 million, $86.9 million and $1.10 respectively for the nine month period ended December 30, 1995.