Great insight Oz and links as usual!

just to add to the Applied Materials info......

Some words from Applied's CEO Gary Dickerson, speaking yesterday at an analysts meeting,

....Major inflection points at logic, memory, foundry and display customers create a great future for Applied Materials. Those inflections are enabled by materials innovation. New structures and new materials in semiconductor and displays create great, great opportunities for Applied,” he said.

He also pointed to a variety of new product launches that target these opportunities. This week, Applied Materials launch a new ALD system, as well as a new etch system. Both systems represent completely new platforms.

Dickerson said the types of transitions or inflection points are “the biggest that we’ve seen in decades.” He also said the rate of change is faster than he’s ever seen. “When you look at what they need to do for higher performance, longer battery life and better visual experience at the right cost, the technologies to enable those major inflections are bigger than we have ever seen in this industry,” he said.

“When you think about mobility or automotive or IoT or wearables, the pace of the technology changes are very, very fast,” he said. “You either hit these windows or you’re out for those products,” he added. He said hitting these narrow windows was “life or death for our customers.”

About a year ago, Applied Materials formed a Patterning Group, led by Prabu Raja, group vice president. The group handles etch, CVD, selective material removal and ALD. “The growth there has been tremendous,” Dickerson said.

Dickerson said they have moved $400 million of investment in the company into these opportunities and into new products.

http://electroiq.com/blog/2015/07/great-future-ahead-says-applied-materials-dickerson/