<<Regarding analysts: Is it me or do some of these guys not really have an idea what is going on at Cymer? Such as the guy who did not understand the shipment of lasers to end users. >>
Sometimes the questions seem so clueless, I begin to wonder whether the questioner's primary qualification is being somebody's brother-in-law. I remember this exchange (from Q3 97 conference call, siliconinvestor.com
Susan Barney, Emerging Growth Management
I missed the first portion of the call, so forgive me if this has been covered, but I heard from another research house that at the present time Nikon was shipping its products with Komatsu lasers in Japan with yours in the US and North America and with Lambda Physik in Europe. (Background laughter from Cymer participants heard here). I have also heard that these products are not ready yet. I am a little confused so I called somebody at Nikon USA and he confirmed that that was his belief as well. Can you clarify that for me?
Answer
Yes, and the lasers going into Australia are being built by Lasers Down Under Inc. (laughs)
Susan
Really (laughing)?
Answer
(laughing) No, believe me I don't want to start any rumors here. No, as far as we are aware there is no truth to those facts, those speculations at all. Certainly, about 3 years ago, Nikon was quoted as saying that they had a desire, if possible, to use Komatsu in Japan and Cymer elsewhere. When confronted with that, it was unclear where that quotation came from. It actually got traced to Nikon Precision Inc. not from Nikon in Japan. That was about three years ago. There has never been any official statement of that kind that we are aware of from Nikon Headquarters. But no, all that is happening now between Nikon and Lambda Physik and Komatsu is receiving a very small number of units on an annual basis on the order of two or three or so per year from those companies for evaluation purposes. Otherwise, everything that ships anywhere in the world on a Nikon machine is Cymer's excimer laser light source. |
