BUDGET CUTS:E-beam inspection tool maker Hermes is undeterred by capital expenditure cut announcements from its key buyers, saying new 10nm tools are needed

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 17, 2015
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Semiconductor inspection tool and equipment maker Hermes Microvision Inc (HMI, 漢微科), which counts Intel Corp as a major customer, yesterday posted a 32 percent sequential decline in quarterly net profit for last quarter, but it expects growth momentum to recover this quarter to drive revenue higher.

Hermes expects the upturn to extend into next year.

“We are optimistic about 2016, which will be a better year than this year,” company chairman Shu Chin-yung (許金榮) told an investors’ conference.

The growth is to come from rising demand for its e-beam inspection tools, as its customers migrate to advanced 10-nanometer (nm) technology, coupled with orders and shipments postponed from this year, Shu said.     [FULL  STORY]