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Technology Stocks : Asyst Technologies (ASYT) Good Value/Where is the Bottom? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JZGalt who wrote (1334)	6/14/1999 10:35:00 AM
From: Ian@SI	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2313

Monday June 14, 8:59 am Eastern Time Company Press Release Asyst Technologies Receives Multimillion-Dollar Order From Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company 'TSMC' Follow-On Order Strengthens Asyst's Leadership in the Growing Wafer Foundry Market FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 14, 1999-- Asyst Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq NM:ASYT - news), the leading supplier of Standard Mechanical InterFace (SMIF) isolation and manufacturing automation solutions to the semiconductor industry, today announced it has received an order valued at more than $4 million from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) (NYSE:TSM - news) -- the world's largest pure-play wafer foundry -- for Asyst SMIF-LPT(TM) (Load Port Transfer) and Asyst SMIF-Enclosure(TM) minienvironment systems. The products are currently being shipped and will be installed at TSMC's Fabs 3, 4 and 5 located in the Hsin-Chu Science Park in Taiwan, where they will support the manufacture of semiconductor logic devices with 0.35- and 0.25-micron design rules. ''For almost a decade, Asyst has supplied us with our contamination control and automated material handling solutions, which have played a critical role in helping us establish and maintain our leadership in the foundry market,'' said Dr. F.C. Tseng, president of TSMC. ''Asyst is our preferred supplier of SMIF solutions, and as we address projected growth for the next several years, we will continue to leverage Asyst's products to achieve our manufacturing objectives and be technologically convergent with the world's leading-edge captive fabs with 0.18-micron design rules,'' Dr. Tseng added. Asyst's SMIF-LPT systems are fully automated robotic transfer systems designed to remove wafer cassettes from a pod or wafer carrier and subsequently load them into the semiconductor process equipment -- all the while, isolating the wafer lots from potentially harmful and yield-limiting contaminants. Asyst's minienvironments surround the process equipment and provide a better-than-Class 1 level of cleanliness while separating the equipment from the ambient environment of the manufacturing facility. When used in combination, these SMIF systems enable IC manufacturers to benefit from optimized processing integrity and less costly Class 10 to 1000 cleanrooms. ''TSMC is one of SMIF's earliest adopters and the first foundry to implement SMIF technology. Since then, they have deployed Asyst-SMIF(TM) systems in all of its fabs, with an installed base of approximately 1,500 Asyst LPT tools alone,'' stated Ken Leung, vice president, Asia-Pacific operations at Asyst. ''Not only does this follow-on order reinforce our role as the leading supplier of SMIF-based solutions in Taiwan, but it also indicates that there is still tremendous market opportunity for SMIF in 200 mm wafer production,'' Leung added. Taiwan is a large market for Asyst because some of the most aggressive users of SMIF technology are chip foundries largely located in this region. Due to their strict time-to-market and cost requirements, foundries must carefully manage, control and optimize every step of the manufacturing flow. SMIF isolation and automation are key to foundries' ability to address multiple products, customers and priorities.