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Technology Stocks : Novellus -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rob-Chemist who wrote (1476)	5/20/1998 12:02:00 AM
From: SemiBull	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3813

Rob-Chemist, Do you know the footprint, COO, and throughput of Ontrack's new machine? Does it integrate their post processing an CMP tools together as SFAM does with their Auriga-C? How many heads does it have? Any customers to date? ONTK own's a little less than 70% of the market b/c SFAM does not buy from them - they have their Capella post dry in dry out tool as a standalone, and the integrated tool which is where industry is heading it is my understanding - leaving IPEC and AMAT as their major customers to date. IMHO, NVLS will ultimately team up with a CMP player by acquisition and LRCX doesn't seem like the best choice for a multitude of reasons including overlap and price. I figure, SFAM (confession: yes I do own a position in SFAM) is the preferred choice given that NVLS' CEO sits on their board and that it is in NVLS' best interests to have CMP capablity in-house to be the Damascene King CEO Hill talks about. Puts him in a more than awkward position if he ends up buying a competitor - ethical questions and potential liability may arise b.c of the proprietary and confidential information he has available to him as an SFAM board member. If not SFAM, IPEC would be the obvious other choice, though you do get a grab bag of other non-CMP related "goodies" that have not done IPEC well in the recent past. So, after my long rambling, I still think once NVLS securely reaches a slight margin above SFAM's recent PO price (52 and change) in a maybe less volatile time frame, you will see a stock swap...which in my mind happens this summer. Just one man's humble spin....SemiBull