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Technology Stocks : Cymer (CYMI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tsaen Wang who wrote (23752)	12/8/1999 4:34:00 PM
From: Nevin S.	Respond to of 25960

Tsaen, average new fab cost in excess of $1.0 Bil. today. Do manufacturers try and save money by shaving maybe $50,000 or $100,000 off the up front cost of a DUV laser by going with Brand X, or do you go with a known performer with the highest up-time stats and the largest service organization to support you in the event that there is a problem. Remember, off-line equipment may cost you more in terms of lost production than savings on Brand X laser to begin with. Earthquake in Taiwan highlights the risks of production downtime to fabless semiconductor companies due to an unavoidable natural disaster. Given this risk/reward scenario, why would you choose Brand X. A lot of talk has centered on competitors products being speced in certain situations and how they were stealing market share from CYMI. I don't think we've heard all there is to hear on this subject considering what companies have a risk. I think even if a manufacturer specifies that he want a LP laser in the first batch of DUV tools, if it doesn't perform as well as Cymer's what's the economic benefit? Time will tell. And as we know already, Cymer will continually raise the performance bar, which will obsolete many competitor's product offerings.