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

To: etchmeister who wrote (12210)	11/27/2004 9:30:24 AM
From: Gottfried	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25522

Capacity utilization according to the SIA report for October... The SIA reported that capacity utilization declined modestly in the third quarter, falling from 95 percent to 93 percent. Factory utilization for leading-edge facilities and foundries remained strong, at 96 percent and 98 percent respectively. Sales in all geographic regions except Japan were up sequentially in October. sia-online.org Normally SIA reports later, more like the first week of next month. On the inventory glut >This year’s PC sales have been further buoyed by strength in the corporate market. Sequential sales growth of 6.4 percent for microprocessors and 2.8 percent for DRAMs are signs that excess inventories of these products have also been worked out of the supply chain.< Gottfried

To: etchmeister who wrote (12210)	11/27/2004 1:07:24 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Sony unprepared for flat-panel TV demand Published: November 27, 2004, 8:50 AM PST By Reuters LONDON--Sony, the world's largest consumer-electronics group, is having trouble meeting soaring demand for flat-panel televisions as its assembly lines did not gear up quickly enough, a senior executive said. "We are having trouble meeting demand in flat TVs," Chris Beering, president of Sony Europe, told Reuters on Friday, adding that the assembly lines were working flat out. "I do not think there is overcapacity in assembly." There was no problem in the supply of the panels. The bottlenecks at the Japanese firm's own plants come at an awkward time ahead of the Christmas shopping season, when 30 cents in every dollar spent by consumers on electronics goes on televisions, and much of that to the new flat TVs. Beering said these were "anxious times" for Sony as it was busy catching up with Dutch rival Philips Electronics, which is leading the market for flat televisions in Europe. Beering said that in the six months to end-September, Sony Europe's sales rose 5 percent, and a big factor behind the increase was flat-panel television sales. Sony had a market share in Europe of 15.8 percent at end-September, up 2.5 percentage points, compared to Philips' 18.8 percent. Beering added that since that month, new Sony products had caught on well, and Sony's market share was up. A key component in flat screens is indium-tin-oxide (ITO), which is pasted on the glass. Surging demand for flat-panel display TVs and monitors has driven indium metal prices to $900 per kilogram, the highest level since 1939.

To: etchmeister who wrote (12210)	11/27/2004 5:48:56 PM
From: Cary Salsberg	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25522

RE: "... the NVLS topline should be at least 1.5x compared to LRCX..." I wonder if you have any reasons for your "should be". While you are preparing your presentation of "reasons", you might want to look at revenue history I pulled from S & P reports. LRCX (year ends June 30): 95 $811M, 96 1277, 97 1002, 98 1053, 99 648, 00 1231, 01 1520, 02 943, 03 755, 04 936. NVLS (year ends Dec 31): 94 $225M, 95 374, 96 462, 97 534, 98 519, 99 593, 00 1174, 01 1339, 02 840, 03 925, 04 1017 (9 months) 1317-1347 (12 month estimate). Funny, but one looks like a cyclical company, while the other looks like a growth company. And that growth company is just beginning to ramp PVD and CMP.

To: etchmeister who wrote (12210)	11/27/2004 8:18:25 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

India's fab venture to start production in '06 By Mark LaPedus Silicon Strategies 11/26/2004, 5:19 PM ET SAN JOSE, Calif. — India's first fab company is expected to break ground on what is believed to be an 8-inch plant in February of 2005, with production slated for July of 2006, according to a report from CyberMedia News on Friday (Nov. 26). Earlier this month, it was disclosed that India's first major semiconductor wafer fabrication facility is set to be established in the southern city of Hyderabad. South Korean Intellect Inc. has approached the regional government of Andhra Pradesh with a plan to build the fab. The fab would be called India Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (ISMC). Hyderabad is best known for software development, but already hosts a small, privately-owned wafer fab owned by Teamasia Lakhi Semiconductors (see Nov. 16 story). ISMC would come up in two phases. The first phase involves an investment of $600 million, according to the report. Of that, some $160 million would be in the form of equity, $80 million from Indian companies, and $80 million from foreign investors, according to the report. Of the $80 million equity from the Indian players, $40 million would come from India's Reliance, Tata and others, according to the report. Intellect of Seoul has also put up a proposal to the government of Andhra Pradesh to grant $150 million that would go in to the fab setup, as well as an additional $40 million by the central government, the report said. "Phase II would be set up with an investment of $2.5 billion after two years of setting up of the first phase. The proposed fab would thus manufacture chips, wafers that would cater to the consumer electronic market," it added. It's unclear if Phase II involves a 300-mm fab. ISMC would break ground in February 2005. Production is slated for July 2006. The fab venture could employ 10,000 workers.

To: etchmeister who wrote (12210)	11/29/2004 2:35:38 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Intel Expected to Narrow Guidance on Inventory Online staff -- Electronic News, 11/29/2004 reed-electronics.com Intel is expected to narrow its guidance in its mid-quarter update this Thursday, with inventory being the key catalyst for its Q4. In a Goldman Sachs report today, semiconductor analyst Andrew Root said that falling flat panel prices and steady server volume will help the chipmaker's units and product mix, saving its December quarter and pulling up its stock price for January stability. "What we do not believe the market has priced into the stock yet is upward revisions to consensus gross margin expectations for 2005 that would result from inventory ending the year at less than 70 days," Root said. "Intel's inventory build in Q3 was driven by overproduction and a tepid demand outlook that caused customers to cut back on MPU inventory. Our checks suggest Intel indeed cut back on production, with output since the beginning of September being well below seasonal patterns." In addition, the firm's report said that the better product mix that appears to be happening for Intel in Q4 could once again allow it to eliminate some inventory from its books through a reserve, while still meeting its 56 percent gross margin midpoint, near-flat on a quarter-over-quarter basis. Specifically, Root's report noted that MPU units have been coming in ahead of Intel's original plan as OEM demand has trended slightly above expectations on better notebook and server units, and that notebook production in particular has benefited from the oversupply in flat panels and in prices. "We expect a combination of slightly higher unit shipments in Q3, lower production output, and better mix allowing inventory reserves will catalyze Intel stock returning to free cash flow fair value ($29) in the near term," he added. Goldman Sachs expects Thursday's update to reveal a guidance range $8.8 billion to $9.1 billion (up 4 percent to 7 percent), from its previous range of $8.6 billion to $9.2 billion (up 2 percent to 9 percent). Intel's stock opened at $23.30 this morning.

To: etchmeister who wrote (12210)	11/29/2004 9:29:47 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Applied Materials Releases Industry's Fastest, Most Powerful Defect Review Systems with New SEMVision G2 Family Monday November 29, 8:00 pm ET SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 2004--Applied Materials, Inc. today unveiled the Applied SEMVision(TM) G2 family, the industry's fastest, most sensitive line of defect review and analysis tools for 65nm manufacturing and beyond. The new line of three systems sets the industry benchmark with 30nm sensitivity and throughputs of up to 1,800 defects per hour. Used in an optimized defect review strategy, these systems can accelerate customers' production ramp by rapidly identifying the root cause of systematic and yield-limiting defects. Source: Applied Materials, Inc. The SEMVision G2 product line includes the new Applied SEMVision G2 HP (high productivity) tool, the most productive system available for performing routine defect review and production process monitoring. The G2 HP provides a significant reduction in cost of ownership over previous tools, achieving world-class efficiency and lowest cost per defect. The new Applied SEMVision G2 Plus is the production workhorse system for volume defect review and material analysis, offering tilt and EDX(1) capabilities. As the ultimate system for inline root cause analysis, the recently introduced Applied SEMVision G2 FIB(1) system, with integrated focused ion beam technology, provides complete capability for embedded defect and electrical failure analysis. "The Applied SEMVision G2 system has become an indispensable tool for root cause analysis in advanced fabs worldwide. Our new SEMVision G2 family is a direct response to customers' need for a set of next-generation tools optimized for different applications, enabling flexible system utilization during all stages of production ramp at the lowest overall cost," said Dr. Gilad Almogy, vice president and general manager of Applied Materials' Process Diagnostics and Control group. "All three systems share the same proven platform, including the capability to share recipes, a common user interface and algorithms. This unique commonality shortens set-up time through extensive recipe sharing and provides high availability." Applied's SEMVision technology, which features industry innovations such as multi-perspective imaging, materials analysis and inline FIB, has rapidly expanded the use of SEMs(1) for defect analysis in manufacturing. The need for defect review has greatly increased and is now the third largest segment in the defect reduction market. Applied, with an installed base of nearly 400 SEMVision systems, is the leading supplier of this technology. The new SEMVision family addresses the trend to achieve faster time to Resolution by harnessing the combined power of process and inspection expertise to dramatically cut the time and cost of resolving yield-limiting defects. For more information, please visit: www.appliedmaterials.com/resolution/ Applied Materials, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, (Nasdaq:AMAT - News) is the largest supplier of equipment and services to the global semiconductor industry. Applied Materials' web site is www.appliedmaterials.com. (1) EDX: energy dispersive x-ray SEM: scanning electron microscopes FIB: focused ion beam MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE: businesswire.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Applied Materials, Inc.