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

To: etchmeister who wrote (16926)	12/22/2005 8:19:27 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Novellus positive about semiconductor equipment market in 2006 Cage Chao, Taipei; Esther Lam, DigiTimes.com [Thursday 22 December 2005] Despite tightening its fourth quarter revenues forecast to US$305-315 million, US-based chip equipment supplier Novellus Systems still holds a positive view about the semiconductor equipment market in 2006, according to company Greater China president Eric Tsai. Novellus trimmed down its fourth quarter revenue guidance by 7-10% from its initial estimate despite projecting a sequential increase in orders of 5-10%, according to Electronic News. Novellus commented that the overall business environment in 2005 should be better than 2004 and expects the industry to enjoy further growth next year. The positive outlook should stimulate capital expenditure (capex) among players and the ramp up of 12-inch wafer output should further boost demand, Tsai noted. Although aggressive sourcing from vendors in 2004 led to a fall in demand in the first half of 2005, the increased equipment orders this quarter serve as an indicator of the positive trend for next year, Tsai added. Tsai also indicated that the equipment industry will see further consolidation next year. Consolidation has been increasing since 2000, as fluctuation of demand has forced out smaller vendors. Severe competition, together with excess supply, has pressured margins of equipment makers. So, Novellus plans to continue strengthening its product coverage and work to help consolidate the sector to maintain its role at the market. Novellus stressed that it has an independent R&D team assigned for its most important customers, and the company maintains a strong design platform. Tsai mentioned the company’s SOLA platform, which can enhance wafer-cleaning performance by a multiple of 20, which in turn helps cut costs. SOLA is an ultraviolet thermal processing (UVTP) system targeted at the post-deposition processing of advanced dielectric films.