Semiconductor equipment expert company Datacon has obviously recovered from recession. In spite of the over-valued euro and remarkably low business in Asia-Pacific where traffic only picked up in the second half of the year 2003, the company’s worldwide sales grew by around 30%. As managing director Helmut Rutterschmidt stresses additionally, “We experienced favorable development in Europe, but more significant was the doubling of the business volume in the US. The strong performance in the US, despite the anything but helpful euro-dollar rate, underlines our leading position in the advanced-packaging market. Our investment strategy is now paying off, even if the revenues are admittedly not yet satisfactory”.
According to Rutterschmidt, Datacon expects sales growth to continue, projecting an increase of at least 30% for the current fiscal. Because of three main production facilities in Central Europe, the company can deliver to customers without long lead times, resulting in a positive effect on order placement. Furthermore, it also expects above-average growth in Asia-Pacific where the company has installed pilot lines with major semiconductor manufacturers and subcontractors. These manufacturers are now investing heavily in equipment for high-volume flipped-chip devices production. Currently, the company has a worldwide staff of about 460 (of whom circa 100 are in R&D), and expects for the business year 2004 total sales of approximately 80m US$ (70m euro).
EPP EUROPE 409
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