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Technology Stocks : Ultratech Stepper -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (2820)	10/28/1998 9:36:00 PM
From: Katherine Derbyshire	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3696

ETEC's products are comparable to UTEK's Ultrabeam system. ETEC uses a raster scan writing method, while UTEK uses a more vectorized (but not completely vector scan) method. Debate about the advantages and disadvantages of the two methods is ongoing, and no clear winner has yet emerged. The PGILD product is really something new and different. If successful, it would displace some applications for RTP furnaces and ion implant systems. It would also enable some processes that simply can't be done any other way. Again, debate about the advantages and disadvantages of the technique is ongoing. IMO, neither process is likely to make a significant contribution to the bottom line in the immediate future. Therefore R&D costs and inventory will build up for several more quarters, hopefully with the stepper business providing supporting revenues. That's just the way things work in the semiconductor equipment industry, though, and I wouldn't blame any kind of managerial incompetence at UTEK or any other equipment company. Similarly, accumulated inventory of these products is not necessarily becoming obsolete--it is more likely that the technology is more advanced (therefore more expensive) than the chip industry needs/wants at the moment. Concentrating on UTEK specifically, to insinuate that management is unscrupulous is to betray one's near total ignorance of the company. The president, Art Zafiropoulo, is one of the most respected executives in the industry, and he's surrounded himself with an equally high caliber team. He may be wrong about the prospects for these tools, or he may be mistaken about the near-term outlook for the business, but he is not intentionally misleading anyone. As someone else pointed out, the IR folks at UTEK are quite accessible and willing to discuss concerns with investors. I'd suggest giving them a call. Katherine