Mr. de Bakker: ASM International manufactures and markets semiconductor equipment and materials for the main areas of semiconductor production ' wafer processing or front end and assembly and packaging or back end. ASMI was founded in Holland, but today has worldwide activities with facilities in all the major markets: Europe, the US and Asia. In front end, we have locations in the Netherlands, the US, Japan, and research activities in Belgium and Finland, plus a number of sales offices. Our back end operation, ASM Pacific Technology, is headquartered in Hong Kong, with major production units in China, Singapore and Malaysia. It is important to know that we own 100% of the front end and have a majority share, or 54% of the back end, ASMPT. The remaining shares of ASMPT are listed at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. With regard to ASMI consolidated turnover, 2002 was slightly over '500 million; and in terms of breakdown by operations, in recent years, that revenue has been split roughly 50-50 between front end and back end operations.
TWST: Is it unique to have a play in both front end and back end? And,
to extend the question, how would you describe your competitive position
and market performance in both areas?
Mr. de Bakker: I think it is a unique set up, which we continue to
benefit from. For example, our back end operation, ASMPT, holds the
number one position in the world as the largest supplier of assembly and
packaging equipment. In our front end activities, ASM is a mid-sized
company, relative to its main competitors in the market, but we have a
number of niches in leading edge market segments where we have a very
good position. ASM Pacific has been profitable with its back end
activities every quarter since it was founded in 1976. That's due in
part to the company's location in the Asian market, which not only gives
us close proximity to our back end customers, but also provides a number
of cost advantages. In front end, however, we are still facing a loss-
making situation during this downturn. At times, we have also made
profits in our wafer processing operations, but today we need the market
to be at a much higher point in order to cover the full cost of our
much-improved organization. We had a peak year, in terms of
consolidated performance in 2000, but these days the market situation is
more mixed. We feel that we've got the technology in-house on the front
end side, but we're waiting, along with everyone else, for a pickup in
market volume.
Tickers included in this excerpt: ASMI
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