SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Applied Materials Inc
(NASDAQ:AMAT) Senior Advisor Gerry Taylor said Tuesday that the
company will continue its research and development spending in
the current range of 13 percent of revenues or higher.
"We are comfortable with that," Taylor told a NationsBanc
Montgomery Securities conference here.
The computer chip capital equipment maker reported revenues
of $4.74 billion for its fiscal year ended October 1997.
Taylor, who recently stepped down as chief financial
officer, said the company will announce its fiscal first
quarter earnings on February 10 and at that time will discuss
in some detail the impact of the Asian financial crisis on itsbusiness.
In general, he said Santa Clara, Calif.-based Applied
expects delays by Korean chipmakers in building new fabrication
plants. In Japan, he said the volatility of chip prices was
affecting investment considerations.
In Taiwan, the foundry business is still strong, and he
said he expected that most plans for new chip plants would gothrough.
In its fiscal 1996 year, Applied derived about 53 percent
of its total sales and about 57 percent of its total profits
from markets in Japan, Korea, and the Asia/Pacific region.
He said North America has a healthy economic outlook, and
in Europe the economic climate is improving. Applied, the
world's largest maker of semiconductor equipment, is in its
quiet period until earnings are announced.
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