Let's Go Lam!
Sales of Applied Materials etch product robust
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb 17 (Reuters) - Top semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials Inc. (NasdaqNM:AMAT - news), whose stock soared on Tuesday after reporting better than expected first fiscal quarter earnings, said on Thursday that sales of a new etching product have been robust.
Applied Materials said in a statement it had shipped more than 200 Dielectric Etch Super e chambers since the product was introduced in July 1999, including repeat orders, upgrades and retrofits. One customer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NYSE:TSM - news) has purchased 50 of the chambers.
''That's kind of an amazing number, which means evidently that is one of the most successful products in their history,'' Jack Geraghty, analyst with Gerard Klauer Mattison & Co, said.
''You don't get numbers like that right away,'' he added.
The Dielectric Etch Super e was designed with several key process and productivity advancements to meet the high volume requirements of leading-edge foundries, or companies that make chips for others, Applied Materials said.
Etching is an essential part of the chip manufacturing process. Applied Materials said the product includes new features such as high etch rates, reduced wafer handling time and a ceramic electrostatic chuck, which makes it suitable for several etch applications.
This is one of the new products that is trying to do several steps in one chamber, Geraghty said.
Taiwan Semiconductor has purchased the product for its current generation of 0.25 micron equipment and in the development of next-generation of 0.18 micron equipment, Applied Materials said.
''The companies are beginning to run up against some capacity limits. They are very interested in moving to the newest technologies,'' he said.
According to market research firm Dataquest, the market for dielectric etch equipment in 1999 was $1.02 billion, and is projected to grow to $2.04 billion by the year 2004, Applied Materials said.
On Tuesday Applied Materials reported record fiscal first-quarter net income that surged more than seven-fold and topped analysts' expectations. Net income for the quarter ended Jan. 30 was 80 cents a share, compared to 12 cents in the period a year earlier.
In early trade on Nasdaq, the company's shares were off 1 at 172-3/8.
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