You are right about the competition. I haven't seen anything concrete from anyone. X-ray and e-beam systems are far too expensive and an overkill for the current market. Besides I haven't heard of any production units. There are however, several companies with excimer laser systems. Maybe not as good as that of Cymer, but they are improving to meet up to their standards.
It is almost a year since Cymer started shipping in volume. Major services should be due for those systems.
If they encounter any major problems in servicing, it could hurt their image.
The market is theirs for the taking. However, I still believe they cannot meet the demands. Already, some of their customers are looking elsewhere to meet their own needs, since Cymer cannot meet them.
Also, since each of their 4 major clients buy in large volumes, each one of them can put an immense pressure on the pricing of the system. Already, their prices have dropped from $480,000 to $430,000 on average. Ofcourse, this doesn't mean much since they have a decent profit margin on the system.
But decreasing profit margin, limited potenetial for increasing production will keep their EPS in check. Not to mention if anyone of their competitors come with a half-decent system. |
