Varian Semiconductor Wins Follow-On Order from ProMOS for its VIISta 80HP Single Wafer Ion Implanter Tuesday February 10, 9:01 am ET
GLOUCESTER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 2004--Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSEA - News) announced today that it has received a follow-on order for its VIISta(TM) 80HP high current ion implanter from ProMOS Technologies, Inc. ProMOS ordered the system for its mass production 300mm DRAM fab in Hsinchu City, Taiwan, keeping its commitment to Varian Semiconductor's single wafer, ribbon beam technology in its high current ion implanter processes. "ProMOS is a leading DRAM manufacturer in Taiwan and is positioned as a benchmark in productivity and leading edge technology," said Dr. Len Mei, senior vice president, manufacturing group at ProMOS. "The memory segment is intensely competitive, and we must choose the most cost-effective ion implant equipment for our state-of-the-art 300mm wafer manufacturing facility."
"After a rigorous evaluation of competitive tools, ProMOS again selected our VIISta 80HP high current ion implanter based on its demonstrated superior productivity and cost of ownership advantages," said John Aldeborgh, Varian Semiconductor's vice president of sales and marketing. "This order demonstrates the confidence that our customers have in the single wafer VIISta 80HP high current ion implanter to meet their volume production needs."
The VIISta platform of ion implanters exceeds 300 wafers per hour, making it the fastest ion implanter platform available. All of the VIISta products feature the Varian Control System (VCS(TM)), the Varian Positioning System (VPS(TM)), and a common single wafer endstation. This high degree of commonality across the VIISta platform facilitates process matching throughout the tool set and provides flexibility in managing capacity, product mix changes, spare parts and training.
About Varian Semiconductor
Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc. is a leading producer of ion implantation equipment used in the manufacture of semiconductors. The company is headquartered in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and operates worldwide. Varian Semiconductor maintains a web site at www.vsea.com. The information contained in the company's web site is not incorporated by reference into this release, and the web site address is included in this release as an inactive textual reference only.
About ProMOS Technologies Inc.
ProMOS Technologies Inc. was founded in Dec. 1996. It is registered under the law of Republic of China and having its headquarter and manufacturing facilities at Phase III, Science-based Industrial Park, Hsin-Chu, Taiwan. The major products of ProMOS are high density/high performance commodity DRAMs, which include 128Mb/256Mb SDRAM/DDR DRAM. The applications for these products are mainly in personal computer. ProMOS develops derivative products utilizing its core DRAM technologies, among which pseudo-SRAM and low power SDRAM are the current focus. The applications for these products are for hand-held low power consumption devices, such as mobile phone, personal digital assistance, digital still camera, etc. The total production volume accounts for roughly 7% of the worldwide DRAM market. ProMOS has two manufacturing facilities, an 8" fab and a 12" fab. The 8" fab reaches a 44,000 wafers per month capacity and applies 0.14 micron process for volume production, 0.12 micron and 0.11 micron process in pilot run. The 12" fab, one of the leading 12" fabs worldwide, has commenced its commercial production since April 2002. It is currently operating at 0.14 micron process. The current capacity is 13,000 wafers per month and is expected to ramp up to 18,000 wafers per month by July of 2004 using 0.12 micron and 0.11 micron processes. For more information, please visit the ProMOS web site at www.promos.com.tw.
Note: This release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For this purpose, the statements concerning the company's performance, market share and technology leadership, technological capabilities and benefits are forward-looking statements and any statements using the terms "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "plans," or similar expressions are forward-looking statements. There are a number of important risks and factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those suggested or indicated by such forward-looking statements. These include, among others, volatility in the semiconductor equipment industry; economic conditions in general and as they affect the company's customers; significant fluctuations in the company's quarterly operating results; the impact of rapid technological change; the company's dependence on the development and introduction of new products; the company's concentration on ion implantation systems and related products; concentration in the company's customer base and lengthy sales cycles; the highly competitive market in which the company competes; risks of international sales; foreign currency risks; and general economic conditions; and other factors identified in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, and the most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company cannot guarantee any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievement. The company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact: Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc. Susan Torbitt Public Relations and Communications 978-282-2410 susan.torbitt@vsea.com or Mary Wright Director, Investor Relations 978-282-5859 mary.wright@vsea.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc. |