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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Jackson who wrote (78450)	11/3/1999 1:46:00 PM
From: Shane Geary	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577135

Bill - Re: "Anyone know if speculators order steppers in the hope that 2 years fron now they will be able to sell them for a bunch/ stepper scalpers" I doubt it. I can't imagine ASML/Nikon/Canon accepting orders (without upfront payment) from anyone who doesn't own a fab, or isn't building one. And no reputable company would do it, especially if they wanted to keep ordering from the equipment company. The stepper makers have a series of tools moving through their factories. You typically send a Letter of Intent to purchase one of them (no money required). You are then assigned a 'slot' - ie first option to buy that tool. You probably don't have to pay until 6-9 months before the tool is shipped. Lots of such 'on paper' orders evaporate during a downturn - all the semi equipment makers got screwed last year because of this. Lead times of 2 years are being quoted for some tools now - but that sure isn't the lead time for the biggest/best customers. I guarantee you that AMD has slots at ASML which they can turn into steppers in much less than 2 years. Slots get shuffled around to satisfy the big boys (although, AMD isn't a huge customer by any means). Shane