March 18, 2005 – SES Co., a manufacturer of semiconductor cleaning equipment, will consign the manufacturing of lower-priced models, designed to clean 200mm wafers, to a South Korean company, in a bid to cut production costs by 20%, company sources said, according to Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

The models, mainly targeting Asian markets, account for 40% of SES’s overall sales. The company will shift from in-house production for the lower-priced models to bolster its competitiveness because intensifying competition from Asian producers is eroding profit margins.

SES will instead focus its in-house production on models for 300mm wafers, and cut the number of workers by about 70.

The company will invest 20 million yen in ATIS, a Korean producer of semiconductor-manufacturing equipment based in Hwaseong, Kyonggi-do, possibly by July, to acquire new shares which will be equivalent to about 10% of its current outstanding shares. The Korean firm will supply SES on an OEM basis.