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Technology Stocks : Veeco Instruments-Who? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Donald B. Fuller who wrote (1518)	9/27/1998 8:54:00 AM
From: Stitch	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3069

Don, <<VECO is not appropriately grouped with other semi equip companies IMO. To me, they appear the main beneficiary of an enormous HDD upgrade cycle that is just ramping up>> FWIW I agree. Specifically noteworthy recently has been Veeco's deposition (Ion Beam) equipment which appears to rule the GMR process based on the latest demo and small order from RDRT. But we have to be a bit cautious yes? After all, the HDD business is hardly in the region of stellar performers right now. I am curious to know if anyone knows what the alternative deposition methods/equipment are for GMR thin-film layers? I have been searching the IBM site but there are no clues as to the deposition equipment. I expect that next year the deposition equipment will account for considerably more then the 26% of revenue contributed so far. VECO's other products impress me also. At Diskcon this year the metrology division of VECO introduced three new products. These included instruments for measuring head wafer flatness, a new surface profiler, and a new system for measuring and adjusting static attitude of head suspension arms at the manufacturing strip level. This latter especially has a potential for a major contribution to yields. You also have to mention VECO's merger with Digital which is a pure play in measurement trends by adding a strong AFM capability to their product line up. Finally I will mention that I believe VECO is very close to a substantial order from RDRT for PTR measurement systems. VECO's depth and breadth of product line is the most impressive line up of products from a single company, relative to the DD industry, that I know of. Any recovery in that sector will bode remarkably well for VECO in my opinion. But it is a troubled sector and there is competition for VECO in most segments. (I think VECO may now have a lock on AFM as applied to data storage.) We should acknowledge that managing a product line of this size is not an easy challenge. Especially in a market so heavily contested. Best, Stitch