CATALYST SEMICONDUCTOR EXPANDS EUROPEAN SALES COVERAGE

CATALYST SEMICONDUCTOR EXPANDS EUROPEAN SALES COVERAGE WITH APPOINTMENT OF SPECTRUM ELECTRONICA AS SPAIN AND PORTUGAL SALES REPRESENTATIVE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CATALYST SEMICONDUCTOR EXPANDS EUROPEAN SALES COVERAGE

Spectrum Electronica added as Spain and Portugal representative

Sunnyvale, Calif. (December 18, 2002) -- Catalyst Semiconductor (Nasdaq: CATS) today announced
Spectrum Electronica, headquartered in Madrid, Spain, will represent Catalyst
Semiconductor in Spain and Portugal. Spectrum Electronica will provide sales and
local applications support for Catalysts programmable products, including Flash memories,
parallel and serial EEPROMs, NVRAMs, Digitally Programmable Potentiometers (DPP) and
microcontroller supervisory circuits with EEPROM memory.

"Improving and expanding our European market coverage has been a major focus throughout the
year, said Catalyst Vice President of European Sales Dave Lathan. Catalysts international
activities represented nearly 70 percent of our fiscal 2002 revenue, with Europe accounting
for nearly 11 percent of revenue. Spectrum Electronica is well positioned and a key partner
in our European market share expansion plans."

According to Spectrum Electronica Managing Director Luis Fernando Neila-Miguel, "Catalyst
will join Wintegra and Artesyn as founding lines for Madrid-based Spectrum Electronica,
which was launched at the beginning December 2002. Catalyst customers and distributors
throughout the Iberian region will benefit from the focused added value service they will
receive as a result of this new extension to the Catalyst/Spectrum partnership."

About Spectrum Electronica
----------------------------
Spectrum Electronica is an independent specialist in sales and marketing advanced
technology and a member of the Oxfordshire U.K. based Spectrum Group. In common with
the other 10 operations in the Spectrum European Group, Spectrum Electronica directly
addresses large OEM accounts on behalf of the manufacturers it represents and also
works with the distributors appointed by its manufacturers to provide a comprehensive,
cost-efficient, design-win focused route to market.

The Spectrum Group was founded in 1994 and currently has eleven I.S.M.O. (Independent
Sales, Marketing and Operations) companies serving the UK, French, German, Benelux,
Iberian and Nordic regions. The Spectrum Group has a Glocal (global but local)
business culture that combines the strength and influence of a multi-national group
with the attention to detail and customer service that can only come with an in
depth understanding of local markets and cultures.

The Group has ambitious plans for European expansion and further Spectrum I.S.M.O.s
will be announced in the early part of 2003. Please call +44 (0) 1869 325092 for more
information on the Spectrum Group.

About Catalyst Semiconductor
----------------------------

Founded in 1985, Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
The Company is a developer and marketer of programmable products used in telecommunications,
networking systems, computation, automotive, industrial and consumer markets.
The Company designs and markets a broad range of programmable products including Flash
Memories, Parallel and Serial EEPROMs with I2C, SPI and Microwire interfaces, NVRAMs,
Digitally Programmable Potentiometers, Microcontroller Supervisory circuits and other
programmable Mixed Signal products. Typical applications for the Companys products
include optical networks, modems, wireless LANs, network cards, PC BIOS, DIMM modules,
cellular telephones, digital satellite box receivers, set-top boxes and Internet
routers. Catalyst's Quality Management System is ISO 9001 certified. Additional
information about Catalyst Semiconductor is available on the Companys web site at
www.catalyst-semiconductor.com.

EDITOR CONTACTS:
================      
Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc.
David Gillooly
Director of Marketing
Telephone: 408.542.1080
Fax: 408.542.1200
Email: david.gillooly@catsemi.com
www.catalyst-semiconductor.com   

Spectrum Electronica
Luis Fernando Neila Miguel
Managing Director.
C/Ferraz 39
4 IZDA
28080 Madrid
Spain
Telephone: +34.91.5477618
Email: lfneila@spectrum-electronica.com

Except for those statements that report the Companys historical results, the statements
being made are forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially f
rom those projected in the forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking
statements is contained under the heading "Certain Factors That May Affect the Companys Future
Results of Operations" listed from time to time in Catalysts SEC reports including but
not limited to the report on Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2002, and to
the reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended July 31, 2002, and October 31, 2002.

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