Strategic Marketing Associates & Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc. Semiconductor Equipment Forecast Shows Softening Litho Market in 2008

Market Wire, May, 2006

Strategic Marketing Associates (SMA) and Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc. (WWK) announced today the availability of EquipmentFutures(TM), a quarterly forecast of equipment sales in units and dollars for six major equipment types. EquipmentFutures(TM) incorporates information from short-term semiconductor activity forecasts from more than 200 fabs, long-term industry forecasts, consumer electronics demand, and industry roadmaps and integrates that data with best-in-class wafer fab simulation to provide highly accurate equipment forecasts. EquipmentFutures(TM) reflects both productivity changes and semiconductor processing trends as the industry faces the continuing challenges of Moore's Law. EquipmentFutures(TM) can be purchased on the SMA web site at www.scfab.com .

"EquipmentFutures(TM) allows us to leverage our multi-year relationship with SMA by combining their worldwide fab data with the modeling capabilities of WWK," stated Daren Dance, WWK's Vice President of Technology. "EquipmentFutures(TM) is unique in that it incorporates both top-down and bottoms-up forecasts to uncover any discontinuities and allows consideration of equipment specific trends. We are also leveraging our relationships with Wall Street custom research houses to incorporate forecasts of end market demand that are currently only available to large mutual and hedge funds."

"For example, our analysis suggests that the litho equipment market will soften in 2008. A likely scenario will have leading edge manufacturers placing initial orders for next generation lithography tools, but then we expect a pause in purchasing to allow evaluation of results. After the pause, chip companies will commit to production purchases."

"We are excited to add this unique forecast to our offerings," said George Burns, President of SMA. "When the end user combines the data from EquipmentFutures(TM) with FabFutures(TM) they will not only be able to know what fabs will be built and when, but they will also be able to generate equipment lists in each fab. This is a must have for every equipment company regardless of size."

EquipmentFutures(TM) covers six individual equipment groupings: lithography, chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP), etch & clean, implant & thermal processing, metal deposition, and non-metal deposition. Each module contains information on revenues and unit volumes (conservative, median, and optimistic) as well as projected average selling price (ASP) on a quarterly basis for five years. Information on the impact of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) and other market considerations are included as background to the forecast. The lithography report is available immediately and the other reports will be released over the next two weeks.

EquipmentFutures(TM) is unique compared to other forecasting services in that it not only takes into consideration market research on semiconductor and equipment sales but also end market demand. This data is then analyzed using WWK's sophisticated factory planning software and proprietary process flow data sets. The result is a convergence of top-down forecasts and bottoms-up economic modeling.

Strategic Marketing Associates provides the industry with comprehensive and accurate data about wafer fabs and summary information about key industry trends. SMA has developed a suite of fab information products including 'The Quarterly Spot Report' on Semiconductor Fab Products, 'International Wafer Fab News,' 'Fab Expenditures: The Next 18 Months,' 'The Fab Construction Monitor: The Next 18 Months,' 'The 300mm Fab Report' and the newly introduced 'FabFutures' and 'Fab TimeLine.'

With more than 3,000 users worldwide, Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc. is the largest privately held operational cost management company serving technology-dependent and technology-driven companies. WWK maintains long-term relationships with prominent industry resources including International SEMATECH, SELETE, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), and national labs and universities. Its client base includes most of the top 20 semiconductor manufacturers and equipment and materials suppliers as well as leaders in nano-technology, MEMS, thin film record heads, magnetic media, flat panel displays, and solar panels.

In addition to its professional consulting and market research services, WWK's product line includes TWO COOL® for detailed process step level cost of ownership (COO) and overall equipment efficiency (OEE), PRO COOL® for process flow and test cell costing, Factory Commander® for full factory capacity analysis and activity based costing, and Factory Explorer® for cycle time reduction and WIP planning. Additionally, WWK offers a highly flexible product management software package that helps sales forces eliminate errors in product configuration and quotation processes.

Contact: Strategic Marketing Assoc. George Burns 831-464-2669 http://www.scfab.com Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc. David W. Jimenez 925-399-6246 http://www.wwk.com