Initially the agreement will span the UK, France, Scandinavia, Benelux, Italy and Spain. European design engineers looking to capitalise on the advantages of Cyan's microcontroller technology and software development tools in their designs will be able to benefit from Spectrum's technical expertise and localised sales support.

"Spectrum's unique business model and proven demand creation abilities fit perfectly with Cyan's growth objectives for Europe," explains Paul Barwick, Sales Director, Cyan Technology. "Spectrum demonstrated extensive market and technical knowledge, and has a clear understanding of where Cyan fits into the 16-bit microcontroller space. The strong relationships with the major European brand names in consumer, industrial and automotive markets will help us to grow the business and drive sales of our new eCOG1X microcontroller family. Our partnership with the Spectrum Group
enables us to provide a high quality, technically qualified local sales presence in every major European territory."

Nigel Watts, Managing Director, the Spectrum Group, comments: "Cyan's new eCOG1X product family and CyanIDE development toolset deliver innovative, peripheral-rich, embedded control solutions, which offer OEMs significant price and performance advantages. Cyan's 16-bit products have capabilities comparable to many 32-bit microcontrollers for embedded communications, but are easier to use, feature ultra-low power consumption and require considerably less development time."

Mr Watts continues: "We are delighted that the advantages of our ISMO business model have been recognised by Cyan and will be working closely with the company and its distribution partners. I'm confident in our ability to add significant value to Cyan's European business and deliver further benefits to its already strong customer base in this region."