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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (6550)	7/24/2003 12:06:37 PM
From: FJB	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25522

Interview with Splinter: e-insite.net From Intel to AMAT: Michael Splinter's First 75 Days at Applied Materials By Ed Sperling, Electronic News -- 7/23/2003 11:35:00 AM Michael Splinter, president and CEO of Applied Materials Inc. for the past 75 days, sat down with the editors in chief of Electronic News, EDN, Electronic Business and Semiconductor International -- all part of the Reed Electronics Group -- to discuss the business climate, upcoming hurdles in technology and new opportunities. What follows are excerpts of that discussion. Electronic News: Are you seeing any signs of an improvement in business? Splinter: I’ve talked to a lot of customers and this is the picture that we get. We’ve looked at their advanced factories. Utilization is quite high. When you look back over history, traditionally when their utilization has reached this level they’re ordering urgently. Today they’re still quite cautious. They say this quarter is better than last quarter and last quarter is better than the quarter before. My worry is that these guys are all going to realize that they’re out of capacity in late September or mid-October and everyone will call me at once and say we need equipment in four weeks. Electronic News: My understanding is that they have the fabs built, but they don’t have the equipment inside them. Is that correct? Splinter: Sure. There are a lot of 300mm fabs out there. EDN: Do you buy the high capacity rates? Last year, TSMC said it was running at 50 percent and it actually was running at 30 percent. Splinter: I don’t know what they’re doing in older factories, but older factories won’t do anything for the equipment business, anyway. This is all about new factories and products that are going to use advanced capacity. I’m optimistic they’re going to need more capacity than the trajectory they’re currently on. Electronic News: Who’s going to be buying the 0.13-micron chips and smaller? Splinter: Everybody. ...