News Release

    Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

    SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 25, 1999--

    Applied Materials More Than Doubles Its HDP-CVD Business In
    One Year to Achieve 58 Percent Market Share Worldwide
    According to Dataquest

    Newly released 1998 market share data from industry research firms Dataquest and VLSI Research rank Applied Materials as the world's leading supplier of HDP-CVD (high density plasma-chemical vapor deposition) equipment. Applied Materials attributes its top position to increasingly strong customer demand for the Ultima HDP-CVD(TM) Centura(R) system to support a wide range of dielectric CVD gap-fill applications.

"Throughout the past year, most major chip manufacturers have selected the Ultima for their advanced chip designs, due to its exceptional flexibility and extendibility," noted G. Dan Hutcheson, president of VLSI Research. "For example, while initially targeted for traditional intermetal dielectric materials, this system has been successfully extended to support emerging first generation low k films like FSG and shallow trench isolation applications. We expect the Ultima to maintain this momentum and continue to deliver leading-edge solutions to the industry."

Clark Fuhs, vice president and director at Dataquest said, "Applied Materials experienced the strongest growth among the HDP-CVD vendors in 1998 and took the number one position in most regions, obtaining a 58 percent market share worldwide."

Introduced in November 1996, the Ultima system has achieved rapid industry acceptance by providing a high-productivity, cost-effective HDP-CVD solution for advanced sub-0.25 micron designs. Optimized for intermetal dielectrics and STI (shallow trench isolation) applications, the Ultima is also the only system being utilized by semiconductor manufacturers in high-volume production for FSG (fluorinated silicate glass) low k films. Applied Materials shipped its 200th Ultima system in early May, testimony to the strong worldwide acceptance of this breakthrough technology.

"We are pleased by the strong customer acceptance for the Ultima HDP-CVD Centura," said Dr. Farhad Moghadam, vice president and general manager of Applied Materials' Dielectric Deposition Division. "The Ultima continues to enable the cost-effective manufacture of leading-edge chip designs with its high productivity support for a range of complex gap-fill applications and advanced processes that include low (kappa) films."

In addition to its advanced film deposition capability, the Ultima features Applied Materials' Remote Clean(TM) technology, which reduces operating costs by eliminating chamber consumables and significantly extending system uptime. Using this technology, the Ultima emits virtually no global warming gases.

Applied Materials, Inc. is a Fortune 500 global growth company and the world's largest supplier of wafer fabrication systems and services to the global semiconductor industry. Applied Materials is traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol "AMAT." Applied Materials' web site is http://www.AppliedMaterials.com.

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     CONTACT: Applied Materials, Inc.
              Connie Duncan, 408/563-6209 (editorial/media)        
              Carolyn Schwartz, 408/748-5227 (financial community)      

     KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
     INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMED PRODUCT