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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tony Viola who wrote (33562)	12/23/1999 12:04:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

AKT Appoints Dr. Kam Law as New President Market-Leading Flat Panel Display Equipment Company Positioned For Growth Into Next Century SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 22, 1999--AKT, an Applied Materials, Inc. company and the world's leading supplier of equipment to the flat panel display (FPD) industry, today announced the appointment of Dr. Kam Law as president. The announcement follows Applied Materials' recent purchase of the remaining 50 percent share in Applied Komatsu Technology from Komatsu, Ltd. Dr. Law will report directly to Dr. Dan Maydan, president of Applied Materials. ''AKT has weathered some severe business cycles in a very turbulent young industry,'' said Dr. Dan Maydan. ''This market is now growing rapidly as FPDs increase their penetration into mainstream computers and other information-age products. We expect AKT's experienced management team, headed by Dr. Law, as well as its advanced technology and excellent long-term customer relationships should enable AKT to continue its market leadership well into the next century.'' AKT manufactures CVD (chemical vapor deposition) equipment used to make Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Displays (TFT LCDs), a type of advanced, high-resolution FPD found in most laptop computers and, increasingly, as desktop computer monitors. LCDs are also widely used in digital cameras, as well as TVs and other consumer products. ''The flat panel display industry is investing heavily in manufacturing capacity, and we are experiencing nearly record orders for our equipment,'' said Dr. Law. ''Since our CVD product line is production proven and can be installed quickly to meet our customers' requirements for high reliability and high productivity, we are delivering systems to a variety of FPD facilities that use a wide range of panel sizes. With our focus now exclusively on CVD equipment, we are also accelerating the development of advanced technologies and systems that will address our customers' emerging requirements for larger panel sizes and new films, while maintaining a strong emphasis on cost-effective performance.'' Dr. Kam Law joined Applied Materials in 1984, when he was a key member of the original development team that created the Precision 5000 CVD system, which revolutionized semiconductor manufacturing technology with its single-wafer, multi-chamber architecture and high precision CVD process technology. He joined AKT in 1993 to head the CVD development effort that led to the industry-leading AKT-1600 system. Dr. Law also is a co-inventor of the revolutionary Remote Clean(TM) technology, an environmentally-friendly technology implemented in AKT's and Applied Materials' CVD systems that uses a non-damaging, ''soft'' clean process to remove unwanted materials from reactor chambers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized the Remote Clean technology with its 1999 Climate Protection Award which was given to only 10 individuals and organizations worldwide whose achievements protect the global climate. It was also awarded a prestigious 1999 ''R&D 100'' award from R&D magazine. According to DisplaySearch, a market research firm, AKT is the global market leader in CVD equipment in 1999 with an estimated market share of more than 75 percent. Recent fab capacity expansions and new fabs, particularly in Taiwan, have created increased demand for AKT's high-productivity CVD equipment. The TFT LCD market is forecast to be $14.9 billion in 1999, growing to $33.4 billion by 2003, according to DisplaySearch. The equipment market for producing TFT LCD displays is forecast by DisplaySearch to be $2.3 billion in 1999, reaching $3.2 billion by 2003. The TFT LCD desktop monitor market, which is driving the flat panel industry's current expansion, is expected by DisplaySearch to account for 4.5 million units or 4.5 percent of the total monitor market in 1999, growing to 12.9 percent of the market by 2005 on a unit basis. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 38 percent worldwide over the next six years. Applied Materials, Inc. is a Fortune 500 global growth company and the world's largest supplier of wafer fabrication systems and services to the global semiconductor industry. Applied Materials is traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol ''AMAT.'' Applied Materials' web site is appliedmaterials.com.

To: Tony Viola who wrote (33562)	12/24/1999 12:08:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Slightly OT: As we approach the end of another year, we should all pause to reflect how fortunate we are. Money is only a minor ingredient in life-long happiness; this is something which many of us overlook in our day to day transactions and portfolio watching. I have come to a point in my life where I want to leave a lasting legacy with part of what I have accumulated. It is in this vein that I have put as a goal for the new year to open a hospital or school or possibly both, in a third world country with a portion of my margin gains. Although the plans are still being thought out now, I hope to put the plan into action within a year. People may wonder why I have chosen to help third world counties and not those in our own backyard. The reason is simply that the need is far greater for the basics and where $25,000 here may put one kid throgh college for a year, in a developing country it could mean opening several schools or medical centers. It is kind of like what we try to do in our investments; put the money in securities with the greatest potential. Anyone interested in joining me or offering ideas is more than welcome. I am currently leaning toward India, though the Sudan and Honduras are also on my list. I hope that by "going public" I will be forced to carry through with the plans. Merry Christmas to all, Brian