According to Patrick Lam, managing director of ASM Pacific Technology, Ltd. (ASMPT), three customers will use the AB339 Eagle bonders for fine pad pitch ball grid array (BGA) and QFP packages and the fourth customer, for a new chip scale package quad flat pack no-lead (CSP-QFN) assembly solution. The latter chip packaging structures are used in portable electronic applications such as laptop computers, mobile phones, and PDAs.
Mr. Lam cited the Eagle wire bonder's superior fine pitch process capabilities, higher throughput, efficient off-line programming and better portability as the principal reasons for selection by these new customers, as demonstrated during their various field evaluations. ASMPT's AB 339 Eagle gold wire bonder was recently awarded a Semiconductor International magazine Editors' Choice Best Product Award for 2001. In 1998, the Company's predecessor AB 339 gold wire bonder received this award which is given to companies whose products make a difference in semiconductor manufacturing.
Deliveries to the BGA customers are scheduled for the current quarter while delivery to the QFN customer is targeted for the first quarter of 2002. Bonders to the QFN customer will be incorporated in ASMPT's IDEALine configuration consisting of a new generation, high speed AD898 die bonder, the Eagle bonders and the IDEALmold, a new generation auto-mold that offers reduced cycle time and a very favorable cost-of-ownership structure. ASMPT has pioneered an IDEALine factory automation solution for CSP that achieves major reductions in manufacturing cycles from a few days to less than an hour.
About ASM
ASM International N.V. is headquartered in Bilthoven, the Netherlands. ASM International is a global company, serving one of the most important and demanding industries in the world. The Company possesses a strong technological base, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, a competent and qualified workforce and a highly trained, strategically distributed support network. ASM International's subsidiaries design and manufacture equipment and materials used to produce semiconductor devices. ASM International and its subsidiaries provide production solutions for wafer processing, assembly and packaging through their facilities in the United States, Europe, Japan and Asia. ASM International's common stock shares trade on Nasdaq (symbol ASMI) and the Euronext Stock Exchange in Amsterdam (symbol ASM). For more information, visit ASM's Web site at http://www.asm.com
ASM Pacific Technology, Ltd, headquartered in Hong Kong, with operations in Shenzhen, China, Singapore and Malaysia, is a dominant global supplier of a full line of assembly and packaging equipment for the semiconductor industry. With its strong financial strength and R&D resources, ASMPT offers its customers total solution in process innovation, package development and factory automation. ASMPT is 55% owned by ASM International N.V. ASM Pacific Technology, Ltd. trades on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the symbol: 0522. For more information, visit ASMPT's web site at http://www.asmpacific.com
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