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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (232)	11/1/2001 9:04:02 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Another sign of bad times in the sector: SpeedFam-IPEC to cut 20 percent of work force CHANDLER, Ariz., Nov 1 (Reuters) - Chip-equipment maker SpeedFam-IPEC Inc. (NasdaqNM:SFAM - news) said on Thursday it plans to cut 160 jobs, or 20 percent of its work force, as part of its continuing effort to reduce costs amid a slump in the semiconductor industry. Chandler, Arizona-based SpeedFAM-IPEC said it's also embarking on other cost-cutting measures to scale down its operations and the number of employees more closely in line with projected business levels during a protracted downturn. ``Without an improvement in the global economic climate, or increased component or hardware demand, there is no recovery predicted for the industry in the immediate future,'' Richard Faubert, president and chief executive, said in a statement. ``As a result, our customers are deferring purchases of capital equipment and are placing additional projects on hold.'' Shares of SpeedFam-IPEC rose 7 cents to $1.85 on the Nasdaq before the announcement, which came after the close of trading. The company's chemical mechanical planarization, or polishing, systems, are used to surface thin-film memory disk media, chips in the middle of the manufacturing process and wafers.