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To: Ramsey Su who wrote (6227)	7/8/1998 1:38:00 PM
From: Katherine Derbyshire	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10921

>> I think it is unlikely that anyone would be willing or able to start a very expensive chip war to drive the Koreans out of business.<< Especially since the Koreans seem to be trying to drive themselves out of business without any help from the outside world. Capital spending of 100% of chip sales and 300%+ debt/equity ratios are not what I'd call sustainable, and I suspect that other companies look at those numbers and say, "if they want market share that badly, they can have it." Katherine

To: Ramsey Su who wrote (6227)	7/9/1998 1:02:00 AM
From: SemiBull	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10921

SpeedFam Announces Second Major Korean CMP Customer Receives Order for First Auriga-C Apex CMP System CHANDLER, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 8, 1998--SpeedFam International, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFAM - news), a leading supplier of high-throughput chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) systems for the semiconductor industry, as well as flat surfacing processing systems for the thin film memory disk media and silicon wafer industries worldwide, today announced that it has received an order from its second major semiconductor customer in Korea for its new Auriga-C Apex CMP system. The newly introduced Auriga-C Apex CMP system will be used for 64M DRAM oxide applications and is expected to ship during the first quarter of fiscal 1999. ''We continue to make positive in-roads in capturing one of the critical semiconductor manufacturing markets in the Far East,'' said Makoto Kouzuma, president and chief executive officer for SpeedFam International. ''With the recent introduction of the HF post-cleaning enhancement module for the Auriga-C, we continue to meet our customers' needs for optimal productivity and lowest cost-of-ownership compared to other competitive configurations.'' The Auriga-C Apex features a hydrofluoric acid (HF) cleaning module to enhance the performance of the Auriga-C's integrated post-CMP cleaning system. The application of diluted HF etches the surface of the polished semiconductor device layer to improve the surface condition and to reduce metallic ion contamination levels present after polishing, thus decreasing overall defect levels for improved device yields. The single wafer process method utilized in the Auriga-C Apex provides precise, consistent process control for applying wet cleaning technology and reduces the CMP cost of ownership by integrating this technology into a high throughput, integrated CMP system. Other Auriga customers added to SpeedFam's worldwide customer list during the past fiscal year include White Oak Semiconductor, a joint venture between Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector and Siemens Semiconductor Group, Silicon Manufacturing Partners PTE, Ltd., a joint venture between Lucent Technologies and Chartered Semiconductor in Singapore, Holtek Microelectronics in Taiwan, Samsung in Korea, and Matsushita Semiconductor Corporation of America (MASCA).