ESI's Newest Cleanroom Paves the Way for Future Growth Opportunities.

ESI Furthers Commitment to Addressing Evolving Customer Requirements

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESIO), a leading provider of world-class production laser systems for microengineering applications, today announced the completion of its newest cleanroom located at the company's corporate headquarters in Portland, Ore. ESI constructed the cleanroom as a means to staying abreast of technological challenges and opportunities presented in the beginning of the 21st century. The new cleanroom encompasses both a Class-1000 as well as a Class-100 cleanroom, and adheres to both the federal 209E and the ISO 14644-4 standard. ESI believes the new facility's state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities enable ESI to develop solutions with compelling yield advantages for its customers, while addressing their evolving requirements for leading-edge solutions.

Following the Class-1000 R&D cleanroom, built in 2004, this new facility, dedicated primarily to production, was developed to accommodate the industry's move to revolutionary applications. Construction of the new cleanroom began in January of 2006, and became fully operational by the end of the year. The addition of the new ISO 14644-4 cleanroom furthers ESI's ability to respond to its customers' demand for innovative solutions that enable significant yield improvement.

"Our customers are pushing the envelope to go to smaller and smaller geometries," noted ESI CEO and president Nick Konidaris. "We need to stay abreast of the challenges they face and continually enhance our procedures and products to provide them with the best possible solutions on the market. The new cleanroom underscores our growth strategy so that we can continue to enable our customers' success by providing critical solutions that improve yield and address their revolutionary technology requirements."

Forward-Looking Statements 

This press release includes forward-looking statements concerning the ESI's ability to develop future products with compelling yield advantages. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties that may affect the forward-looking statements include the ability of the company to develop new products and enhancements and the company's need to continue investing in research and development.

About ESI, Inc.

ESI is a pioneer and leading supplier of world-class production laser systems that help its microelectronics customers achieve compelling yield and productivity gains. The company's industry-leading, application-specific products enhance electronic-device performance in three key sectors -- semiconductors, components and electronic interconnect -- by enabling precision fine-tuning of device microfeatures in high-volume manufacturing environments. Founded in 1944, ESI is headquartered in Portland, Ore. More information is available at www.esi.com.