Applied Materials Widens Lead in 2002 Semiconductor Equipment Market Says The Information Network.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

NEW TRIPOLI, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 11, 2002

Applied Materials ((Nasdaq:AMAT) has continued to strengthen its dominance of the semiconductor equipment market, according to the report Applied Materials: Competing For World Dominance, recently published by The Information Network, a New Tripoli, PA-based market research company.

"Based on equipment sectors analyzed in the report, Applied will increase its share of its served equipment market from 41% in 2001 to 45% in 2002", noted Dr. Robert N. Castellano, President of The Information Network. "Applied's market shares dropped in 2001, and the company aggressively invested in R&D during the downturn in 2001, even building a state-of-the-art development facility, and the results are paying off."

Applied's market share will increase from 21% to 24% in the dielectric etch sector (market leader Tokyo Electron); from 31% to 51% in the metal etch sector (taking lead away from Lam Research (Nasdaq:LRCX)); from 35% to 36% in the metal etch sector (market leader Lam Research); from 57% to 77% in the high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition (HDPCVD) sector (market leader Applied Materials); from 41% to 65% in the plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD) sector (taking lead away from Novellus (Nasdaq:NVLS)); from 62% to 68% in auto defect review sector (market leader Applied Materials); from 13% to 18% in the CD-SEM sector (market leader Hitachi (NYSE:HIT)); from 10% to 13% in the wafer defect inspection sector (market leader KLA-Tencor (Nasdaq:KLAC)).

Other major competitors affected by Applied Materials' 2002 growth include: Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates (Nasdaq:VSEA) and Axcelis (Nasdaq:ACLS) in the ion implantation sector; ASM Lithography (Nasdaq:ASML), ASM International (Nasdaq:ASMI), and Mattson (Nasdaq:MTSN) in the oxidation/diffusion sector; and SpeedFam-IPEC (Nasdaq:SFAM) in the CMP sector.

The Information Network is a leading consulting and market research company addressing the semiconductor, computer, and telecommunications industries.