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To: Carl R. who wrote (1078)	9/13/1998 12:34:00 PM
From: John McCarthy	Respond to of 1279

<OffTopic> Background: ------------------------------------------------------- Needham recommended PTIS (Plasma-Therm) for its VERSALOCK product which is used by DPMI - PLAB - ETEC to develop photomasks. Purpose: ------------------------------------------------------- Below is a laymens synopsis of recent events in this market. If there are serious errors or omissions please advise. ------------------------------------------------------- Companies: ------------------------------------------------------- A - Merchant Mask Makers ------------------------------------------------------- DuPont Photomasks (DPMI) -Photronics (PLAB) - ETEC (ETEC) -Align-Rite (MASK) ------------------------------------------------------- A - Captive Mask Makers ------------------------------------------------------- IBM (IBM) & Others Ref:http://www.semiconductor.net/semiconductor/archive/Jun98/siweekly/jun1-1.html ------------------------------------------------------- Companies that have Exited the PhotoMask Market ------------------------------------------------------- Motorola Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.'s Maskenzentrum furMikrostrukturierung ------------------------------------------------------- Photo Mask Market Size and Factors: ------------------------------------------------------- The worldwide market for photomasks ould reach $3 billion by year 2000. Ref:http://www.state.de.us/dedo/atcs/cns.htm The demand for 0.18-micron feature-size reticles in the year 2000 is projected at 22,000 by VLSI Research Inc. That same year, 107,000 photomask reticles with feature sizes down to 0.2 micron will be needed, according to the San Jose market researcher. Ref:http://pubs.cmpnet.com/sbn/pub/0898/masks.htm ------------------------------------------------------- Advanced reticles types ------------------------------------------------------- A - OPC reticles now account for less than 10% of total photomask sales B - Phase-shift masks even smaller portion - less than 5%. Ref:http://pubs.cmpnet.com/sbn/pub/0898/masks.htm ------------------------------------------------------- The two BIG PLAYERS in this market: ------------------------------------------------------- GunFight:DPMI versus PLABS ------------------------------------------------------- Ref:http://www.electronicnews.com/enews/feat/capeq033098.html -------------- DPMI ============== Locations: -------------- A - Gresham, Ore. (EN, Dec. 8, 1997). B - Danbury CT Ref:http://news.semiconductoronline.com/industry-news/19980202-999.html C - Glasgow, Scotland (EN, April 29, 1997). D - Rousset,France (total of 3 sites in Europe) Ref:http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/980622/fl_plasma__1.html Ref:http://news.semiconductoronline.com/industry-news/19971023-188.html E - Singapore F - Korea (Acquisition) -------------- Acquisitions: -------------- A - Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.'s captive mask operation. Ref:http://pubs.cmpnet.com/sbn/stories/8c11dpi.htm Ref:http://ambassade.france.or.kr/html/tsc/rbi/rbi21t31.html -------------- Partners -------------- A - HOYA - techweb.cmp.com B - HOYA - hoya.co.jp C - United Microelectronics Corp. (Taiwan) Ref:http://techweb.cmp.com/sbn/stories/7l18umc.htm About United MicroElectronics of (Taiwan) Ref:http://pubs.cmpnet.com/sbn/stories/8h17umc.htm -------------- Locked in Customers -------------- A - Hyundai Electronics Industries Co (Korea) -------------- Stock Recommendations: -------------- A - biz.yahoo.com -------------- PLAB ============== -------------- Locations: -------------- A - Hillsboro, Ore.'s Technology Park (EN,Oct. 27, 1997) B - Milpitas, Calif., D - Colorado Springs, Colo. (Selling this Unit) E - Taiwan F - Singapore (August of 1996) (serves Singapore and Twaiwan markets) Ref:http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/980706/fl_plasma__1.html G - Dresden GERMANY (MZD acqusition) There are a total of 3 sites in Europe -------------- Acquisitions: -------------- Photronics acquired Maskenzentrum furMikrostrukturierung Dresden (MZD) last year (EN, June 9, 1997 Motorola's internal photomask manufacturing operations in Mesa, Ariz. (EN, Oct.20, 1997). Ref::http://techweb.cmp.com/sbn/stories/8a07moto.htm However - Ref:http://www.semiconductor.net/semiconductor/archive/Jul98/jul27-11.html -------------- Partners -------------- Japan :Toppan Printing. Korea:minority interest in PK Ltd., or PKL (Chose NOT to take majority interest) -------------- Locked in Customers -------------- Motorola ====================================================== Advanced PhotoMask Reserach ====================================================== A - semiconductor.net B - semiconductor.net ----------------------------- Shallow trench isolation (STI) ----------------------------- C - semiconductor.net <<Perhaps the most promising technique is shallow trench isolation (STI). In this technique, 0.3-0.4 æm deep trenches are anisotropically etched in the silicon substrate by dry etching. >> D - news.photonicsonline.com E - techweb.cmp.com ============================== ETEC (ETEC) ============================== investhelp.com Regards, John McCarthy