Ultratech, Inc.

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This article is about the semiconductor equipment maker. For "Ultratech" the fictional company in the videogame series , see Killer Instinct.

Ultratech, Inc. NASDAQ: UTEK is a publicly-traded international technology company based in San Jose, California which supplies equipment to global semiconductor fabs and foundries, and also makes industry-leading tools for nanotechnology applications by optical networking, data storage and automotive and display industries. In 2004 Ultratech became the pioneer leader in semiconductor rapid thermal processing technology,[1] allowing semiconductor manufacturers to advance beyond the 65-nm node.

Contents

[edit] Structure

Since at least 2004 Ultratech operates in two leased facilities, through 2011, totalling under 200,000 square feet in San Jose, California. Operations are at 3050 Zanker Road, and Corporate Headquarters are at 2880 Junction Ave. Since March 1993, its Chairman and CEO has been its founder, Arthur W. Zafiropoulo. Since January 2004, the President and COO has been John E. Denzel.[2]

Within the United States, as of 2004, sales and support offices are also leased in Woburn, Massachusetts and Dallas, Texas.

Its website is http://www.ultratech.com

Subsidiaries of Ultratech, Inc. within the United States as of 2004 are:

  • Ultratech International, Inc. (Delaware)
  • Ultratech Stepper East, Inc. (Delaware)
  • Ultratech Corporation (Nevada)

International subsidiaries of Ultratech, Inc. as of 2004 are:

  • Ultratech CH (Korea)
  • Ultratech UK Limited (United Kingdom)
  • Ultratech Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan)
  • Ultratech Stepper (Thailand) Co. Ltd. (Thailand)
  • Ultratech (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. (Peoples Republic of China)
  • Ultratech (Singapore) Pte, Ltd. (Singapore)

Outside the United States, Ultratech also maintains offices in France, Taiwan and the Philippines.

[edit] Board of Directors

  • Arthur W. Zafiropoulo (Chairman, March 1993)
  • Joel F. Gemunder (October 1997, CEO of Omnicare, Inc.)
  • Thomas D. George (October 1997, retired President Motorola SPS
  • Nicholas Konidaris (July 2000, CEO of Electro Scientific Industries, Inc.)
  • Vincent F. Sollitto, Jr. (July 2000, CEO of Brillian Corp.)
  • Rick Timmins (August 2000, VP Finance of Cisco Systems, Inc.)
  • Dennis R. Raney (April 2003, former CFO of eONE Global, LP)

[edit] Technologies

  • Photolithography step-and-repeat 1X steppers utilizing the Wynne Dyson optical design:[2]
    • 1000 Family (for scanner replacement, high volume/low cost semi fab, R&D packaging)
    • Saturn Wafer Stepper Family (for mix-and-match advanced semiconductor fabrication)
    • Saturn Spectrum Wafer Family (for flip-chip bump processing)
    • Titan Wafer Stepper (for scanner replacement, high volume/low cost semi fab)
  • By 2004, Ultratech led the advanced packaging (AP) technology market with 85% market share, in use by 9% of semiconductor chips. AP improves performance through more direct and durable connections, in shrinking consumer devices. The "silicon-on-silicon" trend in AP places chips directly on thin silicon layers, rather than on component boards.[2]
  • 2004, Laser Processing (LP) system, a rapid thermal processing tool which overcame a potential technology gap in Moore's Law, by allowing semiconductor manufacturers to advance beyond the 65-nm node.[2]
  • mid-2004 Unity Platform first introduced on AP bump tools:[2]
    • lithography systems (AP200, AP300 for advanced packaging)
    • annealing systems (LSA100 for Laser Processing laser spike annealing)

[edit] History

[edit] 1980s

The origins of Ultratech begin in August 1980, when Walter W. Zafiropoulo founded Drytek, Inc., a plasma dry-etch company. From that time he served as Drytek's President and CEO.[2]

In 1986, Drytek was sold to General Signal Technology Corp. Zafiropoulo remained on as President and CEO of the Drytek subsidiary with General Signal.[2]

In July 1987 Zafiropoulo also became President of Kayex, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer unit of General Signal.[2]

In February 1989, Zafiropoulo ceased being President and CEO of Drytek, when he was promoted to become President of General Signal's subsidiary Semiconductor Equipment Group International, yet another semiconductor equipment company. He held the dual position of President of both that company and of Kayex at that time.[2]

In September 1989, Zafiropoulo ceased in the position of President of the Kayex unit, but remained as President of the Semiconductor Equipment Group.[2]

[edit] 1990s

In September 1990, Zafiropoulo ceased as President of that Group as well, when he was promoted to President of General Signal's Ultratech Stepper Division, the predecessor of the later independent company. He remained as President of the division through March 1993.[2]

In September 1992, Zafiropoulo founded Ultratech Stepper, as a separate company, to acquire certain assets and liabilities of the Ultratech Stepper Division of General Signal. Zafiropoulo continued to serve as President of the division until its independence in March 1993.[2]

In March 1993 the new company became independent, and Zafiropoulo became the President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of the newly independent Ultratech Stepper. Throughout the 1990s, the company retained that name, reflecting its original core business.[2]

The company went public on the Nasdaq stock exchange, with the ticker symbol UTEK.

In 1995 Zafiropoulo was elected to the Board of Directors of the international semiconductor, flat panel display equipment and materials association, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).[2]

In March 1996, while remaining as Chairman and CEO of Ultratech Stepper, Zafiropoulo removed himself from the position of President, until he once again stepped back into that position in May 1997.[2]

In July 1996, John E. Denzel was hired at Ultratech Stepper, to become Vice President of Manufacturing. Denzel had previously been Vice President at Trend Plastics, Inc. since 1995, in charge of Finance, Sales, Marketing, Human Resources and Information Systems.[2]

In 1998, Ultratech Stepper acquired its XLS reduction product platform.[2]

In April 1999, Chairman and CEO Zafiropoulo again removed himself from President for the second time.[2]

In December 1999 Denzel was promoted from Manufacturing to Vice President of Operations, responsible for all Engineering and Manufacturing activities.[2]

[edit] 2000s

On February 29, 2000 Ultratech Stepper filed federal patent infringement suits against Nikon, Canon and ASML in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Nikon settled in April 2000, and Canon settled in September 2001. But on October 12, 2001 ASML's wholly-owned subsidiary Silicon Valley Group, Inc. brought counter suit against Ultratech through their division SVG Lithography Systems, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. In March 2004 the SVGL counter suit was dismissed. Meanwhile in the original suit, the Virginia Court ruled in a preliminary determination against Ultratrech and in favor of ASML. Ultratech appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., which then reversed the prior Virginia determination and remanded the case back down to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.[2]

For the year 2000 sales came in under US$150 million, including a nearly US$16 million non-operating gain that year from the sale of some land. The company paid over US$2 million in income tax related to the land sale. For the year, the company faced an operating loss which included a nearly US$10 million charge related to the shutdown of its UltraBeam unit. Ultratech posted an additional charge of nearly US$19 million for restatement of cumulative revenues from prior years, as a result of the new SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 101, which had been published December 3, 1999.[3] [2]

In April 2001, founder, Chairman and CEO Zafiropoulo once again became President of Ultratech, for the third time in that position.[2] In July 2001 Zafiropoulo also became Vice Chairman of the SEMI association. Later, in July 2002 he became Chairman of SEMI.[2]

For the year 2001 sales revenue dropped to under US$131 million, with another operating loss. The loss included two more charges, one of over US$11 million from discontinued products, and the other over US$12 million from restructuring and impairment. The over US$4 million impairment related to Ultratech's XLS reduction product platform which had been acquired in 1998. The restructuring included elimination of 20% of the workforce in September.[2]

In January 2002 Denzel was promoted a second time at Ultratech Stepper, from Operations Vice President to Senior Vice President, Operations.[2]

Suffering from the three-year technology bear market and the 2001 recession, for the year 2002 Ultratech sales revenue dropped nearly by half, to under US$69 million, with over half that amount showing as yet another major operating loss. Three more charges hit the company that year, from inventory write-downs, discontinued products and more restructuring, totalling nearly US$11 million of the loss. The restructuring included an additional reduction in workforce by 15% in September. For 2002 Intel Corp. accounted for 19% of Ultratech's sales, and Sumitomo Chemical Company, Ltd. accounted for 10%. Under half of sales for the year came from international that year. Revenues were split by over 4/5 from semiconductor manufacturers, and the balance from nanotechnology manufacturers.[2]

In October 2003 Ultratech ended a lease on a facility in Wilmington, Massachusetts. 2003 was a solid recovery year for Ultratech. Sales rebounded strongly, to over US$100 million, and the company posted a profit, benefitted by inventory and product sales which had been previously written down, thus gaining over US$1.6 million of the profit for 2003. Intel Corp. accounted for 26% of Ultratech's sales. Sales to nanotechnology manufacturers reached a quarter of total company sales in 2003. With the financial recovery, Ultratech's always-volatile stock price soared from under US$10 per share in the first quarter, to the mid 30s by year end.[2]

In January 2004, Chairman and CEO Zafiropoulo removed himself from the position of President for the third and final time. On January 1, 2004 he was replaced in that position by Denzel, with his third promotion at Ultratech, this time to President and Chief Operating Officer.[2]

In 2004, Ultratech formally entered the rapid thermal processing market when it shipped its breakthrough Laser Processing (LP) system. As the first production-ready thermal technology on the market, it allowed semiconductor manufacturers to advance beyond the 65-nm node. In 2004, nearly 2/3 of sales came from international. Intel Corp. accounted for 10% of Ultratech's sales. The company had 338 full-time employees. Sales revenue was up, to almost US$110 million, but the profit that year dwindled to only less than 10% of what it had been the prior year. By the third quarter of 2004, the stock price had plunged once again, almost to the low of where it had started nearly two years earlier, before settling in the upper teens by year end.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ultratech products, laser family
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad 2004 Annual Report
  3. ^ SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin: No. 101 – Revenue Recognition in Financial Statements