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Technology Stocks : PRI Automation (PRIA) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Colameco who wrote (427)	5/30/1998 10:55:00 PM
From: Carter Patterson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1214

I assume PRIA got slammed because of INTC announcing a 6 month delay in Merced. This probably explains why INTC delayed the 300mm automation vendor decision.

To: Steve Colameco who wrote (427)	5/31/1998 2:43:00 AM
From: Beltropolis Boy	Respond to of 1214

Electronic Buyers News, June 01, 1998 June 01, 1998, TechWeb News NEC to announce California 300-mm-wafer fab By Jack Robertson NEC Corp. today will announce that it is building a 300-mm-wafer fab with 0.15-micron processes that will adjoin an existing fab in Roseville, Calif. The new fab is expected to cost $1.4 billion and enter production in 2002. In addition, NEC is reportedly ready to disclose plans for a 300-mm-wafer fab to be built in Japan. A 300-mm-wafer fab will be capable of making 256-Mbit and 1-Gbit DRAMs, potentially using next-generation 197-nm excimer-laser lithography systems. The combination of 300-mm wafers and 0.15-micron processes will allow far greater yields and output of chips than from 8-in.-wafer, 0.25-micron fabs. In turn, lower costs will lead to very competitive prices, the hallmark of the DRAM market. NEC is now making 16-Mbit DRAMs at Roseville using 0.35-micron processes. The Japanese company had held back on upgrading the U.S. facility while it expanded fabs in Japan and the United Kingdom. But as the need for 300-mm wafers and smaller line geometries grew, Roseville became the next NEC facility in line for advanced processes. The expansion in Roseville follows NEC's strategy of producing leading-edge products in close relation to key markets, according to Hajime Sasaki, NEC's senior executive vice president. The company's plan to begin full 300-mm-wafer production in Roseville in 2002 is in keeping with the expected availability of the advanced equipment that will be needed. Initial tool sets for 300-mm-wafer pilot lines are expected to be qualified by the end of this year or early next year. NEC will gain development experience with the new equipment at R&D centers in Japan and then order production-capable 300-mm-wafer gear. NEC joins a small number of chip companies planning to launch 300-mm-wafer fabs with feature-size processes of 0.15 micron or less. Intel Corp. has said that its first 300-mm-wafer fab, in Fort Worth, Texas, will use 0.13-micron processes. By contrast, Siemens Semiconductor has said that its first 300-mm-wafer fab, which has yet to be given a timetable, could start with 0.18-micron capability. That fab will probably be located in Dresden, Germany. Chip makers such as IBM Microelectronics, STMicroelectronics, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Texas Instruments Inc., and United Microelectronics Corp. have said that they, too, will build 300-mm-wafer fabs, but have set no dates for construction and initial operation. Copyright 1998 CMP Media Inc. techweb.com

To: Steve Colameco who wrote (427)	6/1/1998 12:41:00 AM
From: Beltropolis Boy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1214

>Any insights appreciated. I remain long on PRIA.... hopefully not tooooo long. insights? perhaps..."patience is a virtue?" or given that we may be in for a lengthy respite, "2001: a space odyssey?" wait, i got one: "i, pri automaton" or "i'm torn; a utopia?" how 'bout "a minor iota put?" pri automation anagrams. sorry, past my bedtime. while a tad dated, the following excerpts are much more credible insights. Industry slips on transition to 300-mm wafers Electronic Engineering Times, 4/2/98 By Peter Clarke GENEVA -- In the last few months the timetable for the semiconductor industry's transition to 300-mm silicon-wafer processing has slipped back by about a year, according to George Lee, director of the 300-mm initiative within the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) trade association. . . . Based on discussions with chip firms, Lee has recently changed his predictions. He has reduced the forecast from seven pilot lines running by late 1998 to just two and pushed back the start for the first low- and medium-volume fabs from 1999 to 2000. The ramp of high-volume fabs is being pushed back even further. Whereas the SEMI prediction, based on knowledge of semiconductor makers plans, was for a steady flow of high-volume fabs coming on-stream starting in 2000, the prediction is for nothing to start before 2002. . . . Lee said the reasons for the delay included the Asian financial crisis, general overcapacity in silicon manufacturing and the continued lack of demand for DRAMs. This has hit Asian and Japanese chip makers in particular. "Price pressure inevitably effects the ability to fund major programs," Lee said. "The economic reason for the transition is still on the horizon. It will kick in when we see a hardening of the DRAM market." Another factor in the delay is the lack of complete tool chains to make and process 300-mm wafers. According to reports circulating at Semicon Europa both I300I, the Sematech (Austin Texas) 300-mm wafer consortium, and Selete, the equivalent Japanese consortium, are behind in their projected schedules to demonstrate 300-mm capable tools. Part of the problem is acceleration in the expected move to finer processing geometries. Instead of introducing 300-mm wafers at 250-nm minimum geometries, equipment makers are being asked to provide 180-nm and 150-nm geometry capability. . . . While other chip makers have delayed plans for the 300-mm transition or are waiting for the equipment industry, Siemens and Motorola have taken the lead with their Semiconductor300 joint-venture in Dresden, Germany. First is a place senior managers of many semiconductor makers said they didn't want to be during the wafer transition. The accepted wisdom was that lead adopters paid a high price pathfinding for the industry. IBM is widely credited with having pioneered the transition from 6-inch to 200-mm wafers. "The situation is not analogous. IBM paid for silicon development, and paid for tool development. The existence of I300I and Selete changes the game. The semiconductor equipment and materials industry is paying for the transition this time," said Lee. "Why wouldn't you want to be first?" he asked. "They [Siemens and Motorola] may pay now but they may get to higher yields quicker. It's like being the only race car on the track. You are going to win as long as you finish the race." techweb.cmp.com