President speaks about R&D expenditures for ATMI
Douglas Neugold, ATMI
DOUGLAS NEUGOLD is President of ATMI, Inc.
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TWST: Could we begin with a brief overview of the company?
Mr. Neugold: ATMI (Nasdaq:ATMI) is singularly focused around finding ways to develop and commercialize high performance materials that are used in making semiconductors. Our basic theory is that most semiconductor manufacturers today are looking for ways to have their vendors and partners take on more responsibility, which derives from both the complexity and capital requirements for making chips. Therefore, we see a general trend toward outsourcing in the industry, which now includes equipment and materials, and in the future will include managing whole process modules in the chip manufacturing plant. Right now, ATMI’s primary business is supplying high performance materials and related products used in the manufacture of semiconductor wafers. These related products are packaging for materials, equipment that delivers the materials to the semiconductor equipment, sensors that detect the materials as they move through the process, and equipment that environmentally abates the materials. We call this “Materials Lifecycle Solutions” since ATMI is basically providing everything required to handle semiconductor materials in and around a chip manufacturing plant. This strategy has allowed ATMI to grow dramatically over the last few years from $165 million in revenues in 1998 to $300 million in revenues in 2000. In addition, we’ve delivered high profitability. In 2000 we dropped 14% of our revenues to the bottom line with approximately $43 million of aftertax profits.
TWST: How do you think your R&D expenditures will change in the future?
Mr. Neugold: We like to keep R&D expenditures at roughly 10% of sales and I expect they will stay that way. Most importantly, we focus our R&D spending on the key emerging materials — for example, low-k dielectric materials and copper interconnects. We are very focused on these materials, and on the technologies that are driven by their adoption including analytical tools that allow copper processes to run productively. The integration of low-k and copper film is also critical to new high-speed chips. The chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) materials that are used in the copper and low-k world are also very important. The next generation of barrier materials that prevent copper from migrating into the chip are also a focus of our R&D efforts. Therefore the percentage of R&D spending will pretty much stay the same, but we’ll obviously be changing the mix of where we spend our money depending on the changing needs of our customers.
TWST: Are there any other significant trends, developments or changes that you foresee in your marketplace in the future?
Mr. Neugold: I think there are a couple of high level trends that everybody in the world is faced with. They are the continuing consolidation of the semiconductor industry manufacturing base and the strong move toward outsourced manufacturing in every form. As a result, we have a desire to cement our partnerships with the influential customers in the world that are going to be the survivors in this rapidly changing industry. That includes device producing companies, foundries, and the key equipment OEMs. There is an ever increasing, ever tightening bond between those three players, to figure out how to get the next semiconductor manufacturing process to work. When you’re dealing with companies like Intel and TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.), they are constantly looking for ways to increase their efficiency and effectiveness, constantly looking for ways to leverage their infrastructure, so they can spend more of their precious dollars on R&D and defining the future. ATMI is right there, figuring out how to anticipate their needs so that we can spend more efficiently on R&D, product development, and global service.
Tickers included in this excerpt: ATMI |
