*AV*-- How about this news release on CYMI.
Wednesday March 11, 8:27 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Canon And Cymer Sign Extensive Partnership Agreement To Provide
Worldwide Lithography Support
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 1998--Cymer, Inc. (NasdaqNM:
CYMI), the world's leading supplier of the excimer laser illumination
sources essential for deep ultraviolet (DUV) photolithography, and
Canon, Inc.'s Semiconductor Production Equipment Group, today
announced they have finalized an extensive and progressive
agreement regarding all aspects of their association. Company
officials report that this most recent agreement further
augments the companies' existing strong alliance by defining their
mutual focus on support and services, product reliability,
warranty, selling, purchasing and forecasting.
According to Edward Poplawski, assistant director of operations for
the Semiconductor Equipment Division of Canon, Inc., U.S.A., the
agreement may be the most comprehensive of its kind in the
lithographic equipment segment of the semiconductor industry to date.
''Canon and Cymer have acted jointly in identifying and establishing a
successful program that will reach and benefit all our global
customers. We have a shared commitment to continue to enhance and
improve the support we offer lithography end-users and device
manufacturers in virtually every major chip producing region of the
world,'' said Poplawski.
Pascal Didier, Cymer's senior vice president of worldwide customer
operations noted the agreement focuses strongly on the needs of DUV
end-users. ''This rapidly expanding technology arena is not only
extremely critical in today's fab, but also increasingly complex. To
ensure that our joint customers are able to fully leverage the power
of DUV, they need ready access to world class technical support,
service and spare parts,'' said Didier.
Consistent with this effort, the Canon Semiconductor Equipment
Division, in cooperation with Cymer, has established a
program to train Canon service personnel on laser support for its DUV
steppers. Over the past year, Canon has been sending its service
managers and key account service technicians to Cymer's facilities for
laser training classes. Eventually, all Canon personnel providing
support for the company's DUV steppers will attend the training
sessions.
While Cymer will continue to have primary responsibility for warranty
support of lasers, the added strength of trained Canon staff with DUV
laser experience on-site, or locally, will give customers significant
advantages, explained Tony Nakajima, national service manager for
Canon's Semiconductor Equipment Division. ''It will help shorten
maintenance response time so they get more productivity from their
tools,'' Nakajima noted.
Depending on customers' specific needs, Canon will develop a
comprehensive service support program involving labor, spare parts and
consumables. In addition, the company is assigning senior managers to
interface with Cymer on all aspects of their shared customer
relationship ''In this way, Canon and Cymer can assure that customers
will not encounter any unnecessary delays or confusion due to unclear
job responsibilities between the two suppliers,'' added Nakajima.
For over a decade, Canon and Cymer have worked together on DUV
technology developments. Canon's large installed base of DUV systems,
from its early prototype FPA-4500 and FPA-3000EX1 systems introduced
in the late 1980s, to its latest step-and-scan units, have featured
Cymer's lasers as the standard illumination source. The company's
early generation 0.25 micron DUV steppers-the FPA-3000EX3 and the
FPA-3000EX3L 300 mm DUV stepper-have used the Cymer 4000 Series laser.
The newest generation of Canon DUV steppers, the FPA-3000EX4 and EX5,
as well as the Canon FPA-4000ES1 step-and-scan system, are featuring
the new high output Cymer 5000 Series coupled with Canon's proprietary
on-demand laser control technologies. These unique features reduce gas
consumption, minimize degradation of the optical components and extend
laser chamber lifetime. Additionally, the higher intensity of the 5000
Series provides increased system throughput.
Cymer, Inc., is the leading provider of excimer laser illumination
sources for use in deep ultraviolet photolithography systems targeted
at the pilot and production segments of the semiconductor
manufacturing market. Further information on Cymer may be obtained
from the Company's SEC filings, the Internet at cymer.com
or by contacting the company directly.
The Semiconductor Equipment Division of Canon U.S.A, based in Santa
Clara, Calif., is a leading supplier of step-and-repeat and
step-and-scan photolithography tools used in semiconductor fabrication
and of large panel aligners for AMLCD flat panel displays. For more
information, please access usa.canon.com.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leader in professional and consumer imaging
equipment and information systems. Headquartered in Lake Success,
N.Y., Canon U.S.A. oversees sales and marketing, manufacturing, and
research and development throughout North, Central and South America
and the Caribbean, employing more than 10,000 people. Canon, Inc.,
headquartered in Japan, employs 75,000 people worldwide.
Let's recap: Canon is the #2 customer of CYMER, Right? We have quality here. It is just a matter of time before it is recognized.
Andrew |
