May 8, 2001 — HONG KONG — Looking to increase its level of service to customers in Asia, Applied Materials has opened a new cleanroom manufacturing facility as part of its multi-phase manufacturing center in Tainan, Taiwan. The company also has plans to build a new Southeast Asia headquarters in Singapore.

The Tainan facility will bolster Applied Materials’ ability to support its customers by establishing a more complete supply chain for the local semiconductor industry, according to officials.

“The Asia Pacific region offers tremendous long-term opportunities for Applied Material as the demand grows for the semiconductors that customers produce, raising requirements for advanced equipment necessary to create these chips,” said James C. Morgan, chairman and CEO of Applied.

“We are investing to better serve our customers in Asia, and throughout the world, to help them make the more powerful, portable and affordable chips that are the engine of the Information Age,” he said.

The Tainan campus is focused on customer support and semiconductor equipment manufacturing.