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Ultratech Receives Multiple-System Orders From Southeast Asian Customers for Nanotech 190 Lithography Tools
Monday June 13, 4:30 pm ET
Multiple-System Orders Underscore Ultratech's Leading Technology Position for Thin-Film Head Market
SAN JOSE, Calif., June 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ultratech, Inc. (Nasdaq: UTEK - News), a leading supplier of lithography and laser-processing systems used to manufacture semiconductors and nanotechnology devices, today announced that it has received multiple-system orders from several southeast Asian customers for its NanoTech 190 lithography systems. The NanoTech 190 tools, specifically designed for thin-film head (TFH) applications, will be utilized for back-end rowbar processing -- the processing step required to add the aerodynamic surface to rows of TFH devices before wafer singulation. The lithography systems will be delivered to the customers' facilities located in Malaysia, Thailand and China. These multiple orders demonstrate Ultratech's ability to provide leading application-specific products with low cost-of- ownership advantages, and reinforce its technology leadership position at the forefront of the thin-film head market.
The increasing number of consumer electronics products requiring small drives, such as portable digital music players, has contributed to a resurgence in the TFH market. According to Dennis Waid, president of Peripheral Research Corporation and member of Ultratech's technical advisory board, "Storage memory capacity for handheld devices can be increased significantly with a small-format hard drive, which has the same form factor as flash-random-access memory (RAM). Today, most cell phones, PDAs, and digital cameras use flash-RAM for memory rather than hard drives. To address this transition and growing demand, disk-drive manufacturers are making thin- film heads for the digital consumer market, as well as for high-end enterprise storage -- increasing the need for application-specific lithography equipment." Waid added that Peripheral Research Corp., which specializes in market research, client studies, consulting, and conferences for the data storage industry, anticipates the disk-drive market will grow at a 14-percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2008.
Doug Anberg, Ultratech's vice president of advanced stepper technology, noted, "The increase in our customers' order activity is driven by the volume increase in mini-drives. The high consumer demand for digital music players and other small devices with hard drives is escalating the need for steppers that can process the thin-film heads that read and write on small-format hard drives. The NanoTech 190 lithography system was specifically developed for the thin-film head industry and is essential to the development of our customers' smaller-dimension, thin-film head devices. Ultratech's advanced technology provides specialized handling capabilities that are critical for back-end rowbar processing. As the market continues to grow, we look forward to providing our global customers with leading technology specifically designed to address the requirements for thin-film head applications-now, and in the future."
Certain of the statements contained herein, which are not a historical fact and which can generally be identified by words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "will," "could," "believes," "estimates," "continue," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements under Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that involve risks and uncertainties, such as risks related to Ultratech's dependence on new product introductions and market acceptance of new products and enhanced versions of its existing products; lengthy sales cycles, including the timing of system installations and acceptances; lengthy and costly development cycles for laser-processing and lithography technologies and applications; integration, development and associated expenses of the laser processing operation; delays, deferrals and cancellations of orders by customers; cyclicality in the semiconductor and nanotechnology industries; pricing pressures and product discounts; high degree of industry competition; intellectual property matters; expiration of licensing arrangements, and the resulting adverse impact on Ultratech's licensing revenues; changes to financial accounting standards; changes in pricing by Ultratech, its competitors or suppliers; customer concentration; international sales; timing of new product announcements and releases by Ultratech or its competitors; ability to volume produce systems and meet customer requirements; sole or limited sources of supply; ability and resulting costs to attract or retain sufficient personnel to achieve Ultratech's targets for a particular period; dilutive effect of employee stock option grants on net income per share, which is largely dependent upon Ultratech achieving and maintaining profitability and the market price of Ultratech's stock; mix of products sold; rapid technological change and the importance of timely product introductions; outcome of litigation; manufacturing variances and production levels; timing and degree of success of technologies licensed to outside parties; product concentration and lack of product revenue diversification; inventory obsolescence; asset impairment; effects of certain anti-takeover provisions; future acquisitions; volatility of stock price; business interruptions due to natural disasters or utility failures; environmental regulations; and any adverse effects of terrorist attacks in the United States or elsewhere, or government responses thereto, or military actions in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, on the economy, in general, or on Ultratech's business in particular. Such risks and uncertainties are described in Ultratech's SEC reports including its Annual Report on Form 10-K filed for the year ended December 31, 2004 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 2, 2005.
About Ultratech: Ultratech, Inc. designs, manufactures and markets photolithography equipment used worldwide in the fabrication of semiconductor and nanotechnology devices, and has expanded its technology scope in pioneering laser processing technology for IC manufacturing. Founded in 1979, Ultratech is a market leader in gold and solder bump lithography. Its products are designed to substantially reduce the cost of ownership for manufacturers in the electronics industry. The company's home page on the World Wide Web is located at www.ultratech.com. |
