Hitachi Announces Joint 300mm Programs with International Sematech.

TOKYO and BRISBANE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 21, 1999--

Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT) and International Sematech today announced a joint program involving the implementation of five systems; several of which will be bridge tools for both 200mm and 300mm processes.

The program, designed to be approximately 27 months in duration, is scheduled to begin in July. This agreement is designed to create 130nm and 100nm test material for member companies, accelerate Hitachi's leading edge 300mm technologies, and assist other equipment suppliers in advanced tool development.

In making the announcement, Tomoharu Shimayama, president and CEO of Hitachi America, Ltd., said, "During the past 24 months Hitachi has diligently worked on advanced product designs to emerge as a world leader in 300mm technology for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. We are pleased to be working with International Sematech on these programs and to advancing it mission of developing leading edge technologies."

Supporting Hitachi, Ltd. in the North America semiconductor equipment marketplace are Hitachi America, Ltd., Hitachi Instruments, Inc. and Nissei Sangyo America, Ltd.

"We admire Hitachi's commitment to reliability, capability and advanced technology. The long-term partnership we are forming with Hitachi in support of our 200mm and 300mm programs will be of great benefit to the member companies in International SEMATECH," said Mark Melliar-Smith, president and CEO of SEMATECH.

Under the terms of the agreement, the following systems are involved:

- 300 mm Etching system configured to support both Gate and Dielectric Etch processing to be delivered with a 200 mm bridge kit.

- S-9300 CD-SEM both 200mm and 300mm capable for measuring fine pattern geometries.

- WI-1100 Automatic Wafer Inspection System for detecting defects on patterned silicon wafers also capable of 200mm and 300mm operation.

- OSDA Optical Shallow Defect Analyzer for detecting and measuring crystal defects in the silicon wafer surface layer in a high throughput and non-destructive manner.

- SCDS Catalytic Decomposition system for abatement of PFC, HAP, etch, CVD and TEOS gases.

For more information on Hitachi etchers and gas abatement systems please visit www.hitachi.com/semiequipment. For more information on Hitachi instrument and measurement products visit www.nissei.com.

SEMATECH is a research and development consortium of semiconductor manufacturing companies, which include AMD, Compaq/Digital, Conexant, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Lucent Technologies, Motorola, and Texas Instruments. International SEMATECH is a wholly owned subsidiary of SEMATECH, which includes SEMATECH members and Hyundai, Infineon (Siemens), Philips, ST Microelectronics, and TSMC. Additional information about the consortia can be found at www.sematech.org.

Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 1997 (ended March 31, 1998) consolidated sales of 8,417 billion yen ($63.8 billion(1)). The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at www.hitachi.co.jp.

(1) At an exchange rate of 132 yen to the U.S. dollar.