Applied Materials Enables Major Industry Transition to 300mm Wafers With Launch of 21 New Chipmaking Systems.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 10, 2000

Industry's Largest-Ever Rollout of 300mm Systems Designed to Bring

More Powerful, Portable and Affordable Chips to Market

Applied Materials, Inc. today announced the launch of 21 new systems supporting over 80 applications for manufacturing chips on 300mm wafers. The move from the 200mm to 300mm size allows the creation of up to 2.5x more chips on a single wafer and can enable chipmakers to lower the cost of producing the increasingly powerful semiconductors demanded by today's Information Age applications. Applied Materials' new systems provide customers with the highly automated, factory-efficient production technologies needed to realize the economic potential of 300mm manufacturing.

Applied Materials' 300mm product line encompasses almost 75 percent of the processes needed to produce the most advanced 0.13 micron and beyond chip designs. Spanning a full range of leading-edge deposition, etch, RTP (rapid thermal processing), CMP (chemical mechanical polishing), ion implantation and wafer inspection technologies, these systems feature major advancements in fab automation and inspection capabilities to optimize fab productivity and maximize chip yield.

"The transition to 300mm wafers is a major technology shift for our customers, since it combines larger wafers with smaller chip geometries and new copper and low k dielectric materials," said James C. Morgan, Applied Materials' chairman and CEO. "The breadth and innovation that have made Applied Materials a leader in 200mm manufacturing solutions put us in a strong position to assist our customers in realizing the full economic benefits of 300mm production."

Applied Materials has worked closely with customers for the past several years to create its extensive 300mm product line. More than 75 systems are currently installed at various customer facilities around the world and over 500,000 300mm wafers have been processed to date on Applied Materials' systems.

"While breaking new ground, Applied Materials' Total Solutions(TM) products for 300mm are firmly founded on well-proven market-leading technologies and our 33 years of experience in satisfying customers," added Morgan. "We believe that our world-class technology, combined with a global service and support organization of more than 3,000 process engineers and technicians at more than 70 facilities around the world, can help our customers minimize their risks and achieve faster time to market in this important transition."

According to Strategic Marketing Associates, an independent semiconductor industry fab information research company, there are a total of 24 announced and likely 300mm fab/project starting production by 2003, costing close to $35 billion in capital investments.

Applied Materials (Nasdaq:AMAT) is a leader of the Information Age and the world's largest supplier of products and services to the global semiconductor and flat panel display industries. Applied Materials' web site is http://www.appliedmaterials.com.