INVESTMENTS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

INVESTMENTS

INVESTMENTS

Note 4    INVESTMENTS

        Investments at December 31, 2011 and 2010 are primarily comprised of corporate equity securities, U.S. and foreign corporate debt securities, guaranteed variable annuities and auction-rate securities.

        All marketable securities are deemed by management to be available-for-sale and are reported at fair value, with the exception of certain auction-rate securities as described below. Net unrealized gains that are not deemed to be other than temporary are reported within stockholders' equity on the Company's consolidated balance sheets as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income. Gross realized gains or losses are recorded based on the specific identification method. For the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company's gross realized gains or losses on short-term investments were insignificant. For the year ended December 31, 2010, the Company's gross realized gains or losses on short-term investments of $2.0 million from the sale of short-term investments in interest and other (expense) income, net on the consolidated statements of operations. The Company's investments are further detailed in the table below:

	December 31, 2011					December 31, 2010
	Book Value			Fair Value		Book Value			Fair Value
	(In thousands)
Corporate equity securities	$	—		$	—	$	87		$	158
Auction-rate securities		2,220			2,251		2,220			2,251
Corporate debt securities and other obligations		3,099			3,079		19,686			19,416
	$	5,319		$	5,330	$	21,993		$	21,825
Unrealized gains		31					126
Unrealized losses		(20	)				(294	)
Net unrealized gains (losses)		11					(168	)
Fair value	$	5,330				$	21,825
Amount included in short-term investments				$	3,079				$	19,574
Amount included in other assets					2,251					2,251
				$	5,330				$	21,825

        For the year ended December 31, 2011, auctions for auction-rate securities held by the Company have continued to fail and as a result these securities continued to be illiquid. The Company concluded that $2.2 million (adjusted cost) of these securities are unlikely to be liquidated within the next twelve months and classified these securities as long-term investments, which are included in other assets on the consolidated balance sheets.

        Contractual maturities (at adjusted cost) of available-for-sale debt securities as of December 31, 2011, were as follows:

	(In thousands)
Due within one year	$	3,099
Due in 1-5 years		—
Due in 5-10 years		—
Due after 10 years		2,220
Total	$	5,319

        Atmel has classified all investments with maturity dates of 90 days or more as short-term as it has the ability and intent to redeem them within the year, with the exception of the Company's remaining auction-rate securities, which have been classified as long-term investments and included in other assets on the consolidated balance sheets.