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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Teri Skogerboe who wrote (21765)	7/14/1998 11:36:00 AM
From: jelrod3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Teri, I think you are right when you said "Indications right now are that it's significantly worse than the '96 downturn and we still have no idea how bad it will get." The CEO for Cymer, Robert Akins, basically said the same thing this morning on CNBC in an interview. He is looking for at least 2 more quarters of flat revenues on top on a BTB of about .64. It would seem that his business has got to turn up before AMAT's business will turn up.

To: Teri Skogerboe who wrote (21765)	7/14/1998 11:54:00 AM
From: Terry D	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 70976

Summit called to help avert 300-mm crisis By J. Robert Lineback SAN FRANCISCO -- A hastily organized summit of executives from semiconductor makers and their capital equipment suppliers is being planned for this week to help revive momentum behind the industry's troubled transition to larger 300-mm wafers, Semiconductor Business News has learned. Reports of the closed-door meeting, scheduled for tomorrow, and news that Applied Materials Inc. has greatly reduced its involvement in tests of 300-mm production systems at Sematech appear in SBN (see story in the July 15 issue). Other equipment makers are also reducing their 300-mm R&D because they see no demand for systems after chip makers began delaying their pilot lines, which were originally slated to be set up next year. Some industry managers and analyst believe the summit meeting is an attempt on Sematech's part to head off a crisis in the 300-mm movement, which appears to be nearly stalled. During several social events Sunday night prior to the start of the Semicon West exhibition in San Francisco, many capital equipment managers said they believed the industry would not reach any meaningful accord at this week's meeting, but they remained hopeful that the transition from 200-mm to 300-mm wafers would happen by the middle of the next decade. A few industry analysts and managers said it now looks as if 300-mm wafers could become a "lost fab generation" despite more than $4 billion in development having been spent on the technology since the mid-1990s. In Austin, Tex., a spokesman for Sematech said the meeting is being organized by the consortium's international arm to improve communications between device makers and equipment suppliers. "We do not anticipate any announcements as a result of this meeting," said the Sematech spokesman. The meeting, which was still being organized late last week, is slated to be held while semiconductor equipment and material suppliers show their wares during the annual Semicon West trade show. In the past several months, Sematech's International 300-mm Initiative (I300) has seen a dramatic slowdown of tools available for its tests and demonstrations. During the Third Annual 300-mm Symposium in Santa Clara, Calif., last month, I300I officials said only half of the needed tool set for 300-mm wafer processing had been tested by the program and nearly no new systems are expected to be available this summer (see June 15 story). Some of Sematech's member companies have set a goal to begin ordering 300-mm fab systems in the second half of 1999, if full tool sets are ready by the middle of next year. That prospect now looks unlikely, according to industry managers and analysts. Equipment suppliers have spent more than $4 billion developing 300-mm technology, and many are now worried it will be several years before any sales are made. Next week's summit is an attempt to restore harmony between chip makers and fab equipment suppliers, which have begun blaming each other for delays. Both industry segments are suffering during the current business slump, noted analyst G. Dan Hutcheson, president of VLSI Research Inc. in San Jose. For more information about the attempts to revive the 300-mm movement as well as what Applied Materials and Intel Corp. managers think about the situation, see the SBN's July 15 issue (stories from the print publication will appear on this www.seminews.com Web site this week). Also, be sure to check in at this Web site for breaking news about the high-level summit meeting as well as other events at Semicon West. SBN's special show coverage begins Monday morning