BILTHOVEN, The Netherlands, Nov. 20, 2000 (PRIMEZONE) -- ASM INTERNATIONAL N.V. (Nasdaq:ASMI) (AEX:ASM) announced today that its subsidiary ASM Europe BV has received an order for ten A412 Vertical Furnaces for 300mm technology from a large manufacturer of semiconductor devices. Delivery of the systems is scheduled starting the fourth quarter of 2000 and continuing through first quarter of 2001 to their fab in Europe.
"In addition to 300mm processing, the A412 is also fully capable of processing 200mm wafers, or a combination of 200mm and 300mm simultaneously. Because of this flexibility, the A412 is the only vertical furnace bridge-tool available today," stated Dr. Albert Hasper, Worldwide Product Manager Vertical Furnaces. "If the system is used for 200mm only, it has the same throughput as ASM's A400XT, which is 30-40% higher than other 200mm vertical furnaces," continued Hasper.
The Advance(r) product family comprises a series of highly productive clustered modular vertical furnaces. All models feature a dual reactor, dual boat configuration, together with a large work-in-process station for maximum productivity with a minimum footprint. Nitrogen ambient control and process clustering offer advanced process capabilities for critical applications such as thin-oxide and nitride. The models for 200mm wafer processing include the A400c and the A400XT for extended flatzone of 920mm. The A412 for 200mm and 300mm wafer processing was introduced in 1998.
ASM International is headquartered in Bilthoven, the Netherlands. ASM International's subsidiaries design, develop, manufacture and market equipment and materials used to produce semiconductor devices. ASM International and its subsidiaries provide production solutions for the wafer processing, assembly and packaging segments through their facilities in the United States, Europe, Japan and Asia. ASM International's common shares trade on NASDAQ National Market under the symbol "ASMI" and on the AEX Stock Exchange under the symbol "ASM". More information on ASM can be found on its website at http://www.asm.com.
ASM International is under no obligation to update the guidance in this release.
Safe Harbor Statement under the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements regarding orders, earnings developments and the effects of research and new products on ASM's future, and other matters discussed in this statement, except for any historical data, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, economic conditions in the semiconductor industry, currency fluctuations, the timing of significant orders, market acceptance of new products, competitive factors, risk factors related to litigation and other risks indicated in filings from time to time with the SEC and Stock Exchange Authorities.