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Technology Stocks : Semi Equipment Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (10289)	6/24/2003 1:38:07 AM
From: Si_Detective	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95530

oh, thanks.

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (10289)	6/24/2003 5:09:40 PM
From: Return to Sender	Respond to of 95530

Capital costs to soar for 65-nm masks, warns Photronics' CEO siliconstrategies.com By Mark LaPedus Semiconductor Business News (06/24/03 04:34 p.m. EST) SAN JOSE, Calif. - Capital spending for photomask vendors is expected to more than double as the IC industry moves from the 90- to the 65-nodes, warned the top executive of Photronics Inc. Speaking at the Advanced Reticle Symposium conference on Tuesday, Dan Del Rosario, chief executive of photomask supplier Photronics of Brookfield, Conn., also said that the 65-nm node is the “next inflection point” in the chip-manufacturing process, especially for mask makers. Chip makers are targeting the 65-nm node in 2005 or so, but Photronics is planning to make the investments for the technology as early as next year. “We need to be 12 months ahead of the 65-nm node,” Del Rosario said in a presentation at the event. The problem: The costs to equip a mask shop for the 65-nm node will double, as compared to the 90-nm node, he said. Mask costs also remain an issue. Today, at the 130-nm node, the price for a “mask set” ranges from $500,000-to-$750,000, depending on the product, he said. “I believe a mask set for the 90-nm node will be below $1.5 million,” he said. “I can't comment on the 65-nm node,” he said in an interview with SBN after the presentation. But the cost of capital for mask shops is soaring. For example, at the 350-nm node, or the 0.35-micron IC generation, a photomask vendor was required to procure a total of 10 tools, including electron-beam mask writers, inspection systems, and others. Total capital expenditures for 0.35-micron masks was $22 million for a mask shop, according to Del Rosario. At 90-nm, a photomask vendor must buy a total of 22 tools and spend $104 million in terms of capital expenditures, he said. In comparison, at the 65-nm node, a mask shop must procure 28 tools and spend a staggering $218 million, he said. For the 65-nm node, e-beam mask writers run about $15 million per unit, but surprisingly, inspection machines are approaching $20 million each. “There is not an equitable repair tool on the market today,” he said. “The Rave tool is too expensive,” he said, referring to mask-repair equipment supplier Rave LLC, a company funded by International Sematech.