Analyst Makes Rosy Prediction for Photolithography

Companies specializing in photolithography could be big winners over the next few years, according to one industry analyst who spoke at SEMInvest 99, an investor conference sponsored by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International, a trade association of more than 2300 companies.

Jay Deahna, a vice president of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, spoke of the possibility of share prices of photolithography companies outperforming other semiconductor industry sectors. The photolithography sector includes suppliers of steppers and photomasks, and laser light sources that illuminate photomask images to etch the surface of wafers.