Asyst Technologies is moving to outsource most of its manufacturing operations to Solectron under a five-year supply agreement. Solectron will assume operational control of most of Asyst's manufacturing operations, which will be transitioned to Solectron's facilities in North America and Asia over the next six to 12 months. In addition, Solectron will buy from Asyst about $20mn of inventory to support production. Asyst's remaining $20mn of inventory consists primarily of finished goods and spare parts.

Of Asyst's 1200 employees worldwide, 260 are engaged in the company's core
US manufacturing operations. Some 80 of this 260 will remain with Asyst. The
remaining 180 will join Solectron as part of the transition. Asyst will
continue to manage its robotics manufacturing operations in Nagoya, Japan.
Separate from the Solectron agreement, Asyst also plans to sell its Advanced
Machine Programming (AMP) and SemiFab manufacturing subsidiaries. The
company will treat AMP and SemiFab as discontinued operations for accounting
purposes.

Ultratech Stepper has implemented a cost-reduction plan in response to
continued weakness in the semiconductor industry. The company plans to
reduce its global workforce by 50 positions, or 15% of its headcount.
Ultratech has already reduced salaries, implemented mandatory shut down days
and restricted hiring of new staff.
"As our customers continue to be cautious in their capital spending, we do
not expect business to recover until late 2003," said Arthur W Zafiropoulo,
Ultratech's chairman and CEO.