ASE Group Installs Multiple 300 mm Wafer Bumping Lithography Systems from SUSS MicroTec; ASE Orders Expand Market Leadership in 300 mm Lithography Equipment for Wafer Level Solder Bumping.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MUNICH, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 2003

SUSS MicroTec AG (ticker symbol FWB:SMH), a leading manufacturer of production and test equipment for the microelectronics and nano device markets, today announced that Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, TAIEX:2311, NYSE:ASX), one of the world's largest semiconductor packaging and testing companies is currently installing multiple 300 mm SUSS lithography systems. The equipment package includes several MA300 Plus Full Field Lithography systems and several ACS300Plus Coat/Develop wafer-processing Clusters, which ASE will use to expand its 300 mm solder bumping capacity and advance its solder bumping technology. The shipments include key elements of SUSS's recently introduced SupraYield(TM) technology. Installations are scheduled to be completed in Q4 2003.

Wafer-level solder bumping is a burgeoning requirement to manufacture advanced semiconductor products that include microprocessors and high-performance graphic devices. According to market research firm Prismark Partners, the demand for bumped wafers will grow approximately 5-fold within the next five years. In 2007, solder bumping is expected to be the dominant wafer bumping technology, accounting for approximately 70 percent of the total number of bumped wafers, whereas gold bumping will only account for approximately 13 percent of bumped wafers in 2007.

"Chips manufactured using solder bumping technology are expected to quickly ramp in volume production due to inherent improvements in performance, increased speed and reduced power consumption," said J.J. Lee, Vice President, Research & Development, ASE Group. "As a world leading wafer bumping service provider, we must keep up with advances in manufacturing technology for next generation chips. SUSS MicroTec's lithography technology meets or exceeds the respective key performance criteria and has proven instrumental for successfully offering our bumping services in a highly competitive market environment."

"Reliable and cost efficient solder bumping technology is critical to support the growing demand for flip chip ball grid arrays. SUSS MicroTec has captured an estimated two third market share for both 300 mm exposure and 300 mm coat/develop systems for advanced packaging in Taiwan," said Dr. Franz Richter, president and CEO of SUSS MicroTec. "The Taiwan test and packaging industry has provided the most competitive outsourcing services in recent years. Our success in Taiwan offers strong evidence of our bumping technology to efficiently match the ever advancing performance and cost requirements of wafer level packaging."

About ASE Group

The ASE Group is one of the world's largest providers of semiconductor manufacturing services. As a global leader geared towards meeting the industry's ever growing needs for faster, smaller and higher performance chips, the Group develops and offers a wide portfolio of technology and solutions including IC test program design, front-end engineering test, wafer probe, wafer bump, substrate design and supply, wafer level package, flip chip, system-in-package, final test and electronic manufacturing services through Universal Scientific Industrial Co Ltd, a member of the ASE Group. The Group generated sales revenues of $2.24 billion in 2002 and employs over 24,000 people worldwide. For more information about the ASE Group, visit www.aseglobal.com.

About SUSS MicroTec

SUSS MicroTec is a leading supplier of production, process and test technology for the semiconductor industry. SUSS maintains its leadership position with over 7,000 systems installed worldwide. SUSS products include coating developing systems, 1X full-field lithography (1XFFL) systems, substrate bonders, flip-chip bonders and probe systems. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, SUSS has approximately 720 employees worldwide and provides support from sales and service centers in North America, Europe, Asia and Japan. SUSS MicroTec AG is listed in the Tec-DAX segment of the German Stock Exchange.

All statements in this release other than historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "estimate", "should", "may", "will", "plan" and similar words and terms used in relation to the enterprise are meant to indicate forward-looking statements of this kind. The company accepts no obligation toward the general public to update or correct forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, as a result of which actual events may diverge numerically from expectations. The forward-looking statements reflect the view at the time they were made.