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

To: etchmeister who wrote (15225)	6/9/2005 8:19:20 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Applied Materials Achieves #1 Position in PVD for 13 Years Thursday June 9, 7:30 am ET SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 2005--Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT - News) increased its lead in PVD (physical vapor deposition) technology to 78% of the estimated $1.6 billion PVD market in calendar year 2004, according to market researcher VLSI Research's 2004 IC Manufacturing Equipment Market Share report. Applied has been the leading supplier of PVD systems to the semiconductor industry for 13 consecutive years. Through important innovations, Applied continues to enhance PVD technology to meet the needs of current and emerging 65nm and 45nm designs. "Applied's ability to extend cost-effective PVD to each succeeding generation of devices has helped chipmakers manage their technology transitions, while also enabling improved copper interconnect circuitry at each device node," said Dr. Farhad Moghadam, senior vice president and general manager of Applied Materials' Thin Films Product Business Group. "Our latest advances in PVD source technology continue this trend, providing the capability for depositing high-purity films in very high aspect ratio interconnect structures, with the high productivity that customers depend on to stay competitive." Customers' preference for Applied's new Endura2(TM) platform, which supports the industry's broadest portfolio of PVD technologies, contributed to this boost in Applied Materials' PVD market position. Since its introduction in February, 2004, more than 100 Endura2 systems have been shipped to customers worldwide. The Endura2 was selected by Solid State Technology magazine as a top product of 2004. The rapid customer acceptance of the latest Applied Endura® CuBS copper barrier/seed system for fabricating copper interconnects is another validation of Applied's innovations in PVD technology. The system's SIP EnCoRe(TM) II process chambers provide customers with a major leap forward in barrier-seed deposition capability for the 45nm device generation and beyond. Combining these chambers on the reliable Endura2 platform also dramatically cuts operating costs and enables chipmakers to push cost-effective PVD technology to future chip generations. Forward-Looking Statements. This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those related to Applied Materials' technological leadership, product capabilities, strategic position and opportunities. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to: the sustainability of demand in the semiconductor and semiconductor equipment industries, which is subject to many factors, including global economic conditions, business spending, consumer confidence, demand for electronic products and semiconductors, and geopolitical uncertainties; the timing, rate, amount and sustainability of capital spending for new technology, such as 300mm and sub-100 nanometer applications; the company's ability to successfully develop, deliver and support a broad range of products and services and expand its markets; and other risks described in Applied Materials' Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. All forward-looking statements are based on management's estimates, projections and assumptions as of the date hereof and the company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT - News), headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is the largest supplier of equipment and services to the global semiconductor industry. Applied Materials' web site is www.appliedmaterials.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Applied Materials, Inc.

To: etchmeister who wrote (15225)	6/9/2005 10:33:53 AM
From: Bookdon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

That was my point. When AMAT decided to enter this mask inspection market three years ago, they thought that their ETEC connection would allow them access to the mask-makers who buy this kind of inspection equipment. They did not, however, think it though. Their first error was to use a 248nm source for measuring masks to be used at 193nm (subsequently changed, but at the cost of a one-year slip in deliveries). The second mistake was to allow only die-to-die inspection for masks that (early on) often had only one die. "They didn't know what the didn't know" was a good way to state the problem. Unfortunately, this was an example of the engineering team who designed the tool knowing, but AMAT corporate management not knowing. I hope that either a different engineering team (one that won't ignore potential design problems) is being used, or that corporate management is better informed about market needs. I certainly want AMAT to succeed in capturing part of this lucrative market, but am concerned about the track record.

To: etchmeister who wrote (15225)	6/14/2005 8:00:38 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

India should set up fab city, says minister K.C. Krishnadas EE Times (06/14/2005 6:39 AM EDT) BANGALORE, India — India should consider setting up a 'fab city' and the country's communications and information technology minister is asking the various state governments to consider putting up one in their states. Speaking on Monday (June 13) in Chennai after a visit to the U.S., minister Dayanidhi Maran said India intends to have semiconductor fabrication units needed to drive growth of the country's computer hardware industry. The fab city plan is in initial discussion stages with few details available. Whatever state is chosen will need to address water and power issues. Intel has chosen India over China and Vietnam for its proposed $400 million assembly test manufacturing facility, said Maran. "We have been successful in convincing them (Intel) to choose India over China or Vietnam," Maran told The Hindu Business Line. Though the report said Intel will soon select the India location for its facility, it also noted the semiconductor giant is concerned about infrastructure issues, including water availability. According to Maran, AMD is also interested in investing in India and its chairman Hector Ruiz will be visiting the country to discuss plans. During his U.S. visit, Maran also asked Applied Materials and IBM executives to consider jointly setting up a 90-nm/65 nm semiconductor fab in India. Telecoms equipment maker UTStarcom is sending a team to India this month to see if it can use its VoIP-based connectivity solutions in the country's villages. In addition, Maran has also met with Flextronics to discuss the possibility of locating manufacturing here.

To: etchmeister who wrote (15225)	6/14/2005 3:29:59 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

VLSI releases IC-equipment customer satisfaction rankings Mark LaPedus EE Times (06/14/2005 3:00 PM EDT) SAN JOSE, Calif. — Tegal Corp. and Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates Inc. are among the winners in terms of customer satisfaction within the chip-equipment industry for 2005, according to an annual survey conducted by VLSI Research Inc. (See below for ranking tables) Tegal received the highest rating in the "10 Best Customer Satisfaction" ranking for small suppliers of wafer processing equipment in 2005, while Varian took the top honors among the large vendors, according to VLSI Research (Santa Clara, Calif.) Overall customer satisfaction in the chip-equipment industry was slightly up by one-tenth of a percentage point in 2005 over 2004, said May Chang, an analyst with the market research firm. "Customer satisfaction improved this year," Chang said. In the large chip-equipment vendor rankings for customer satisfaction, Varian received the highest rating in the top-10 list, followed in order by Tokyo Electron Ltd., ASML Holding NV, Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co. Ltd., Canon Inc., ASM International BV, Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc., Novellus Systems Inc., Lam Research Corp., and Applied Materials Inc. Lam Research and Applied Materials were not on the top-10 list in 2004. Applied was in 11th place in 2004, while Lam was 12th , according to VLSI Research. Falling off this top-10 list from 2004 were Nikon Corp. and Ulvac Inc., according to Chang. In the small chip-equipment vendor rankings for customer satisfaction, Tegal was first, followed in order by Aixtron AG, EV Group, Suss MicroTec, SEZ Group, Axcelis Technologies Inc., Unaxis Wafer Processing, Mattson Technology Inc., FSI International Inc., and Semitool Inc. Semitool made it on the top-10 list after being in 12th place last year, according to VLSI Research. Falling off the list was SCP Global Technologies in 2005, according to Chang. Conducted on an annual basis, the "10 Best Customer Satisfaction" ranking awards give special recognition to the suppliers that are rated highest by end users. The survey asks users of chip equipment to rate their suppliers on a ten-point scale among thirteen customer-support categories. The statistics were drawn from a distribution of 46,719 questionnaires from North America, Asia, and the Europe. The results are grouped into five major market categories of wafer processing equipment (large and small vendors), test and measurement handling equipment, process diagnostics and assembly equipment. VLSI Research plans to release the results in the other categories over the next few weeks. i.cmpnet.com i.cmpnet.com