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

To: Gottfried who wrote (37092)	8/30/2000 6:17:51 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

DuPont Photomasks Installs Advanced Equipment To Expand Global Manufacturing Capability ROUND ROCK, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 28, 2000--Expanding its advanced manufacturing capacity worldwide, DuPont Photomasks, Inc. (Nasdaq:DPMI - news), commonly referred to as DPI, has installed three new 0.18-micron and below capable production lines each anchored by an ALTA® 3700 laser mask pattern generation system. The systems, representing an investment of nearly $50 million, are now in production at DPI's facilities in Round Rock, Texas; Corbeil-Essonnes, France; and DuPont Photomasks Taiwan Ltd., DPI's joint venture with UMC Group in Hsinchu City, Taiwan. These production lines will be used to create critical photomask layers for leading-edge semiconductors using advanced pattern generation, process, inspection and repair techniques for customers around the world. As the semiconductor industry accelerates the transition to design rules of 0.18 micron and below, DPI's facilities are being proactively upgraded to ensure the continuous support of customers' needs. ``The installation of these advanced systems represents a major investment by DPI to expand our global capacity and capability to meet the increasing demand for leading-edge photomasks,'' said Preston Adcox, president and chief operating officer of DPI. ``DPI has added eight laser based lines and three electron beam lines throughout the world over the past year, and will continue to invest in both technologies to meet the needs of our broad, global customer base.'' For a large portion of advanced masks, the ALTA 3700 made by Etec Systems, an Applied Materials company, offers significant advances in lithographic quality particularly in critical dimension (CD) and registration capability. The system is capable of writing advanced phase shift masks (PSM) and optical proximity correction (OPC) masks. About DuPont Photomasks DPI leads the photomask industry with one of the most technically advanced manufacturing networks. The company supplies photomasks to the global semiconductor industry from 13 strategically located facilities in North America, Europe and Asia, and derives approximately 25 percent of its current revenues from leading-edge photomasks with 0.18 micron or smaller design rules. DPI also produces and supplies photoblanks (photomask substrates) and pellicles (protective covers for photomasks). Headquartered in Round Rock, Texas, DPI posted worldwide sales of approximately $328 million in fiscal 2000. The company maintains a Web site at photomask.com. Note: This release includes forward-looking statements based on management's current plans and expectations. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties which may cause future activities and results of operations to differ from those suggested, including risks associated with fluctuations in demand, start-up of new equipment, accelerating technology requirements, pricing pressures and the need to manage growth. For additional information, please refer to DPI's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the company's most recent Forms 10-K dated September 21, 1999, 10-Q dated May 15, 2000 and the S-3s most recently amended on July 20, 2000, which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward looking statements. Results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for the year.