MANHASSET, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 10, 1998--

High-level 300-mm Summit Called

A summit meeting has been called in San Francisco next week to head off an impending R&D crisis in the semiconductor industry's move to manufacturing on larger 300-mm wafers, reports CMP Media's Semiconductor Business News in its July 15 issue.

In what might be the biggest blow to the movement, the world's largest semiconductor equipment supplier -- Applied Materials Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT) of Santa Clara, Calif. -- has nearly ended its involvement in joint testing of 300-mm production systems at industry consortium Sematech in Austin, Tex., according to the publication.

"We have adjusted the demonstrations of Applied equipment in I300I [the International 300-mm Initiative] based on the market, which currently does not exist with the exception of one pilot line," Jaim Nulman, managing director of Applied Materials' 300-mm program, is quoted as saying in Semiconductor Business News.

For more than three years, semiconductor manufacturers, capital equipment suppliers, and industry trade groups worldwide have been working on a transition to wafers measuring 300 mm (12 inches) in diameter, from today's 200-mm (8-inch) wafers. The move to larger wafers is considered essential to continue historical cost reductions in the chip industry through the next decade.

In the past year, planned 300-mm pilot manufacturing lines have been delayed to the point that a growing number of plant equipment suppliers are reducing their R&D in the new generation of wafer-fab gear, according to the report. After investing more than $4 billion in 300-mm development, equipment suppliers are beginning to significantly delay their programs.

A set of strategic guidelines set up by chip companies and equipment suppliers three years ago was highly dependent on the timing of investments. This entire plan needs rethinking in light of current industry business conditions, the publication's Editor in Chief J. Robert Lineback points out in his July 15 Commentary.

"The whole 300-mm effort looks like a flashy Ferrari parked on the shoulder of a highway with its hood popped open," Lineback wrote. "This expensive baby is going nowhere fast."

Sematech and other proponents of 300-mm manufacturing are hoping that a hastily arranged high-level, closed-door summit meeting held next week during the Semicon West industry trade show in San Francisco will restore the lost harmony over 300-mm investment, and lead to a new consensus for goals and timetables.

Published by CMP Media Inc., Semiconductor Business News (http://www.seminews.com) is the premier source of news for semiconductor industry executives worldwide. CMP Media Inc. (Nasdaq: CMPX) is the only high-tech media company providing essential information and marketing services to the full technology spectrum--the builders, sellers and users of technology worldwide. With its portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines, custom publishing, Internet products and conferences, CMP Media is uniquely positioned to offer marketers comprehensive, integrated solutions tailored to meet their individual needs. Online editions of the company's print publications, which include EE Times, InformationWeek, Computer Reseller News and Windows Magazine, along with products and services created exclusively for the Internet, can be found on CMPnet at http://www.CMPnet.com.

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