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

To: Gottfried who wrote (33993)	2/2/2000 4:20:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Copper tool spending will grow 50% in 2000, says report Semiconductor Business News (02/02/00, 03:46:58 PM EDT) NEW TRIPOLI, Pa. -- Semiconductor tool investments for copper processing will increase 50% to $1.13 billion in 2000 as more IC makers begin moving the interconnect technology into volume production, said a new report from The Information Network here today. Worldwide spending on copper-processing equipment reached $745 million in 1999, an increase of 36% from 1998, according to the research firm. "Many in the industry were expecting stronger growth last year, but it turned out to be less partly because of some of the bad publicity about low yields and concerns about copper contamination," said Robert N. Castellano, president of The Information Network. Currently several companies are using copper processes in production--IBM, Motorola and Advanced Micro Devices, noted Castellano. He expects to see the large silicon foundries to soon move copper ICs into production for their customers. Castellano said most chip companies had planned to transition from all aluminum interconnects to copper metal at 0.15- or 0.13-micron technology node. However, that transition was accelerated to the 0.18-micron technology node because of aggressive copper roadmaps at IBM, Motorola, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturer Co. (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), said the analyst. "With 300-mm [fabs] on the back burner, our analysis shows that copper technology is the next market mover, growing more than 50% in 2000," Castellano said. That growth rate will push the entire copper equipment segment over the $1 billion mark, counting all the tools needed for interconnects--electroplating, deposition systems for seed and barriers, dielectric etchers, chemical mechanical polishers (CMP), metrology, and other systems.

To: Gottfried who wrote (33993)	2/2/2000 9:20:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Applied Materials' Bronson on Chip-Equipment Industry: Comment By Cesca Antonelli San Francisco, Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Applied Materials Inc. Chief Financial Officer Joseph Bronson commented on the semiconductor-manufacturing equipment industry at the Banc of America Securities Technology Week conference in San Francisco. Applied Materials, the biggest semiconductor-equipment supplier, expects strong growth as computer-chip companies expand capacity and install new technologies. On the industry's recovery: ``We're in the early to mid-stages of the upturn. We're seeing continued recovery, particularly in Asia, and very strong communications (industry) growth and applications growth for integrated circuits.' On chipmakers' transition to copper wires: ``The next wave is the move to new materials, and certainly this is copper-based devices. It's a difficult transition, a risky proposition, and companies are taking it conservatively as we expected them to. It's going to be three to four years before copper is the predominant material.'