Kulicke & Soffa Supplies Wire Bonders to PCA Technology for 1" HardDisk Production
Monday September 20, 11:20 am ET
WILLOW GROVE, PA--(MARKET WIRE)--Sep 20, 2004 -- Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NasdaqNM:KLIC - News) today announced the Company received a second order for Maxum Plus wire bonders from PCA Technology, Ltd. in Singapore. PCA Technology is a supplier of circuit board assemblies for consumer electronics and computer peripherals. They provide electronics manufacturing services (EMS) which are not part of the traditional semiconductor packaging market segment that normally purchases K&S equipment. These new wire bonders will expand PCA Technology's current production line (comprised of 25 Maxum Plus machines) that create electrical connections to semiconductor chips attached directly to a motherboard. The technique, called Chip-On-Board (COB) processing, is especially suited for very low profile applications, such as 1" HardDisk products used in the latest portable music players.
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Ng Nyiak Kwang, Hobson, chief executive officer of PCA Technology commented, "Today's COB process is very similar to semiconductor BGA packaging. We are benefiting from the same board improvements that BGA substrates have seen: simultaneous reductions in line width, spacing, and cost. This enables wire bonding directly to these new fine pitch boards, thus saving the cost of pre-packaging a chip and then soldering the package to the board. The K&S Maxum Plus wire bonders are providing us the key manufacturing technology that we need to achieve the high throughput and extreme accuracy that we require for COB manufacturing." He added, "The low-profile wire loops produced on the Maxum Plus are critical to our customers' latest product needs for extremely small hard disk drive assemblies used in portable music players."
Christian Rheault, vice president of K&S ball bonder business unit said, "EMS providers like PCA Technology can now develop unique COB processes tailored to their customers requirements. The flexibility of the Maxum Plus material handling system makes this equipment quite versatile for a wide range of board dimensions that may be processed through the machine. We are especially excited to receive this follow-on order from PCA Technology, our first customer in the EMS market, to expand this ground-breaking project and we believe the success will provide growth benefits for both companies."
About PCA Technology
Established in 1990, PCA Technology Limited is a contract manufacturer serving major names in the global electronics industry. The manufacturing activities of the Group include providing Printed Circuit Board Assembly services, Box-Build services as well as after-sales repair services. With manufacturing facilities located in Singapore, Malaysia and China, the Group employs a workforce of about 2000 employees. Presently Malaysia caters to approximately 70% of the Group's manufacturing capacity requirements with the balance met by its plants in Singapore and China. The Group's operations in Suzhou, China, commenced operations in May 2003 providing clean room assembly services for the telecommunication industry. Listed in August 2001, the Company's shares are traded on the main board of the Singapore Exchange.
About K&S
Kulicke & Soffa (NasdaqNM:KLIC - News) is the world's leading supplier of semiconductor wire bonding assembly equipment. K&S is the only major supplier to the semiconductor assembly industry that provides customers with semiconductor wire bonding equipment along with the complementing packaging materials and test interconnect products that actually contact the surface of the customer's semiconductor devices. The ability to control all of these assembly related products is unique to Kulicke & Soffa, and allows it to develop system solutions to the new technology challenges inherent in assembling and packaging next-generation semiconductor devices. Test interconnect products include a variety of wafer probe cards, ATE interface assemblies, and ATE boards for wafer testing, as well as test sockets for all types of packaged semiconductor devices. Kulicke & Soffa's web site address is kns.com.
Caution Concerning Forward Looking Statements
In addition to historical statements, this press release contains statements relating to future events and our future results. These statements are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to our future revenue, operating expenses, profitability, cash flows, and projected continued demand for our products. While these forward-looking statements represent our judgments and future expectations concerning our business, a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors could cause actual developments and results to differ materially from our expectations. These factors include, but are not limited to, those listed or discussed in Kulicke & Soffa Industries' 2003 Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other filings with the SEC, and the risk of failure to successfully manage our operations; the risk that anticipated orders may not materialize or that orders received may be postponed or canceled, generally without charges; the risk that anticipated cost savings will not be achieved; the volatility in the demand for semiconductors and our products and services; acts of terrorism and violence; overall global economic conditions; risks, such as changes in trade regulations, currency fluctuations, political instability and war, associated with a substantial foreign customer and supplier base and substantial foreign manufacturing operations; potential instability in foreign capital markets; and other key factors that could adversely affect our businesses and financial performance contained in past and future filings and reports, including those with the SEC. Kulicke & Soffa Industries is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact:
Kulicke & Soffa
Michael J. Sheaffer
215-784-6411
215-784-6167 fax
msheaffer@kns.com
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Source: Kulicke & Soffa |
