What's the scoop?
Here's perhaps one reason for the overreaction last week...
Applied Materials to enter wafer cleaning market
biz.yahoo.com
Will Applied succeed in wafer cleaning?
siliconstrategies.com
This week, Applied Materials Inc. created a buzz by entering the wafer cleaning market with a new, single-wafer tool for 300-mm fabs. The system, called Oasis Clean, has begun shipping (see June 19 story ).
So what are Applied's changes of success in this big, but overcrowded market?
The “wet clean market is favorable for [Applied],” according to a report from Deutsche Banc Alex Brown in San Francisco. But the new system will have “no change to near-term expectations, but supports longer-term story [for Applied],” the report said.
The report added the chip-equipment giant's new product will not add much to the bottom line “until 2003...”
Applied already has one beta site
...Don't look now, but Applied already has at least one beta-site customer for the wafer cleaning system--STMicroelectronics Inc., according to a report from U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray of Minneapolis, Minn.
And Applied's competitors could be in trouble. The company's move could be “a significant negative for FSI International and Semitool, both of which have substantial businesses in cleaning,” the report said. |
