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Technology Stocks : Speedfam [SFAM] Lovers Unite ! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kirk © who wrote (3416)	6/1/1999 4:26:00 AM
From: FLSTF97	Respond to of 3736

I concur on the niche company/long backlog theory in general, but I believe that this situation is different. The obisidian tool is fundamentally different in design. The concept seems to eliminate many of the short comings in the current CMP tool/process base. It can also eliminate the cost for slurry delivery systems which if included in the cost equation is a big plus for them. Does that mean that all other CMP companies go out of business? I doubt it, but it will put pressure on them. I personally thought that SFAM announcement on the web format tool was a feeble defensive move, but I could be wrong. If they have been developing such a tool for the last 12-18 months they may indeed have something in 6-9 months that could be delivered to the field. This would have been a very well keep secret. I do worry about their ability to sidestep Obsidian's IP in this regard. Frankly, I was just about to invest in SFAM until the AMAT purchase of Obsidian. I think they could effectively battled (or bought for that matter) a smaller start up, but it will be much harder against AMAT. Hopefully the market in general will improve such that SFAM's revenues grow even if their market share doesn't