To: Sorin A. David who wrote (7414 ) 10/30/1997 10:38:00 PM From: FJB Read Replies (4) | Respond to
You won't find explicit statements of Intel's DUV plans in public sources of information, but you can infer their plans from these sources.svg.com While the SVG would not identify the chip maker, the San Jose-based company did say the customer owned a large installed base of Micrascan systems at multiple fabs around the world. Intel Corp. and IBM Microelectronics are both users of SVG's step-and-scan lithography systems. techweb.cmp.com SVG president and CEO Papken Der Torossian said the terms of the agreement forbid him from revealing the identity of the company that placed the order. He could say only that it is one of the world's largest chip makers with more than a 10 percent share of the world semiconductor market and that the customer holds a large installed base of Micrascan systems at multiple fabs around the world. "I cannot say who it is," Mr. Der Torossian said. "But everyone knows." sumnet.com maybe the downturn in 1996 brought things in a little bit, but a year or two ago, we would not have expected to ship 200 deep-UV tools in 1997. Then, 1997 was projected at well under 100, and this upsurge just came on in a rush. This is one of the difficult parts about this business. A customer decides its next fab will be a deep-UV fab, and that's 20 steppers electronicnews.com NEW FOCUS FOR NIKON--Word has it over half of Nikon's recent lithography orders were for deep-ultraviolet units. Customers were all over the map, with companies like NEC, Toshiba, and Dominion Semiconductor leading the predominantly Japanese customer list. This is an indication of how hot DUV is becoming. The technology, focusing on deep-submicron products, is really taking off, with ASM Lithography reportedly experiencing results similar to Nikon. Nikon's historical camera focus is fading, as semiconductor manufacturing equipment becomes its core competency. In fiscal 1996, cameras made up 21 percent of Nikon's sales, with semi equipment looming large at 61 percent, representing a radical shift from fiscal 1980's figures of 2.2 percent from equipment and 66 percent from cameras. Nikon management said it did not plan to eschew the camera business, hammered lately by the appreciation of the yen and skyrocketing advertising and investment costs of new camera launches. The most advanced steppers, though, are seeing only rising demand. Laser steppers are projected to hit 200 units in the next fiscal year, up from 40 this fiscal year, and only 10 last fiscal year, according to Nikon. electronicnews.com "This order, combined with the recent ASML order, shows that the industry is making a major switch to DUV," Mr. Hutcheson said. "Nikon has orders it has not yet disclosed. Canon will be picking up some orders." electronicnews.com
