Corporate Profile for Strasbaugh, dated March 6, 1998.

--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

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Published Date:   March 6, 1998

Company Name:     Strasbaugh

Address:          825 Buckley Road
                  San Luis Obispo, Calif. 93401

Main Telephone
 Number:          805/541-6424

Internet Home
 Page Address
  (URL)           www.strasbaugh.com

Chief Executive
 Officer:         Alan Strasbaugh

Chief Financial
 Officer:         Jan Vlietstra

Investor Relations
 Contact:         Jan Vlietstra
 Business number: 805/541-6424

Public Relations
 Contact:         Susan Price
 Business number: 805/782-5377

Industry:         High-tech -- semiconductor manufacturer

Company Description:

Since 1948, Strasbaugh has built a reputation as a world-class manufacturer of precise, reliable and high-quality polishing and grinding systems used in a variety of demanding industries, including semiconductor, electronics, precision optics and aerospace. Strasbaugh serves these industries from the corporate headquarters in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and through an expanding network of sales and service offices located in the United States, Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and China. With five decades of precision polishing and more than 10,000 machines built (more than 1,500 semiconductor machines), Strasbaugh CMP systems have been chosen by more than 40 major semiconductor manufacturers worldwide.

History

Strasbaugh's history mirrors the history of electronics and optics technologies in the second half of the 20th century. For five decades, America's scientific establishment has turned to Strasbaugh when pursuing technical innovation. Collaborating with clients that include IBM, Motorola, Texas Instruments, Fairchild, Monsanto and Bell Labs, Strasbaugh has designed and built machine tools enabling the development and manufacturing of:

-- optics for advanced military weapons, space exploration and

atomic research; -- silicon wafers and other semiconductor device substrates,

including sapphire, ceramic and gallium arsenide; -- lasers; -- computer memory storage substrates and recording heads; -- jet-aircraft windows; -- bio-optical devices; -- Hubble Space Telescope; -- integrated circuitry.

Anticipating the need for a breakthrough in order to continue advances in chip capability, IBM in 1984 invented Chemical Mechanical Planarization, using Strasbaugh tools. Strasbaugh is focused on equipment and processes for the semiconductor and computer industries and is the technology leader in CMP, wafer backgrinding and prime wafer polishing, while remaining America's premier manufacturer of industrial optical machine tools.

Strasbaugh's equipment and process design capability have never been stronger. With a worldwide marketing and technical-support infrastructure, the company looks to the 21st century as a time of unlimited technical opportunities. -0-

FACT SHEET

-- World-class manufacturer of precise, reliable and high-quality

polishing and grinding systems -- Designs and builds machine tools for new scientific applications:

-- Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP)

-- Silicon wafers

-- Memory disks

-- Laser optics

-- Optics for spacecraft -- More than 200 different tool designs, with more than 10,000 total

tools manufactured -- More than 1,500 tools built for the semiconductor industry -- Founded in 1948 -- Corporate headquarters: San Luis Obispo, Calif. -- Offices throughout the world: United States, Europe, Japan,

Korea, Taiwan and China -- 435 employees -- Alan Strasbaugh, president and chief executive officer -- 1996 sales: $85 million -- Significant sales growth in past five years: 1993, $15 million;

1994, $25 million; 1995, $59 million; and 1996, $85 million -- Semiconductor products:

-- Symphony-CMP: 4 spindle, 3 table mass-production CMP tool

-- Model 6DS-SP: 2 spindle, 2 table auto-loading CMP tool

-- Model 6EC: 1 spindle, 1 table R&D CMP tool

-- Model 7AF: 8-inch Backgrinder

-- Model 7AA: 6-inch Backgrinder

-- Model 6DZ: 8-inch Prime Wafer Polisher

-- Model 6EF: 12-inch Prime Wafer Polisher

CONTACT: Strasbaugh, San Luis Obispo