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Technology Stocks : Cymer (CYMI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ian@SI who wrote (19413)	9/6/1998 8:25:00 PM
From: FJB	Respond to of 25960

It is fairly easy to do a search of Electronic News or SBN, and come up with articles that totally corroborate Cymer's view of the DUV tool industry during the April 24, 1997 to September 26, 1997 time frame. Simply enter search terms like ASML, Canon, Nikon, DUV, or deep-UV and you can find a bunch. In addition, many press releases from photolithography tool suppliers were forecasting massive growth as well. electronicnews.com techweb.cmp.com For instance, Nikon estimated in mid-July they would ship 200 DUV tools in '97, a target they did not meet. Leadtimes for Nikon DUV scanners were about 18 months back then. "That relates a little bit to the question about leadtimes. 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. So these orders come in big bites when they happen. It is challenging to plan, and that gets reflected in leadtimes." electronicnews.com As late as February of '98 ASML was indicating a tremendous preference for DUV tools in the photolithography marketplace. Of course, some of this $170M order was probably not shipped, due to a lack of financing on the part of Hyundai. Hyundai's huge order last fall hasn't been cancelled or cut back in light of the economic turmoil in South Korea, according to Ms. Billat. Most of the order had been for deep-UV equipment, and now it is apparently all for DUV, with the I-line equipment being "de-booked," she said. With Hyundai delaying its fab in Scotland, all resources are now being diverted to the company's fabs in Korea, with the shift to 64-megabit DRAM production taking priority and driving increased demand for DUV, rather than I-line. electronicnews.com The bottom line is ASML, Canon, Nikon, and SVGI should make very good witnesses for Cymer in this case with respect to DUV tool demand and market growth. The only area in which there might be a problem in this case is "technical problems" with lasers. To the layperson/lawyer, putting an excimer laser in a difficult operating mode and the resulting performance degradation, might seem like a technical problem, when in reality, controlling the laser in a certain way is the problem. Bob

To: Ian@SI who wrote (19413)	9/7/1998 10:44:00 AM
From: Alan Gallaspy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25960

Ian, Regarding your comment Nor does the need for the rule of law and order justify the actions of scumbags like Lerach, IMHO, you are of course correct. No one in their right mind would propose anarchy over rule of law. It is the legitimate need for such laws, for the cases where shareholders are truly wronged, that provide creatures like Bill Lerach the veneer of cover that they require to feed off of the inherent volatility and changing fortunes of companies such as CYMI. The point of my post is that lawyers are unfairly accused for all sorts of problems, when they merely reflect and take advantage of the greed lurking all around us. I maintain that if we as shareholders and citizens could shut down these strike suits with a minimum of political effort. Most of the lawyers I know are sensible and upstanding in both their private lives and their business practices. So quit making broad generalizations of a group of people whom you apparently see as little better than common petty criminals. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you want to single out Bill Lerach as an example of a reprehensible parasite, fine. Just do not try to paint the entire profession with the same brush. I find such an attitude surprisingly narrow minded and out of character for someone such as yourself who obviously gives a great deal of thought about just about everything else. Enough of the off topic lawyer ranting and raving. They are here to stay, for better or worse.