Micronic Announces Order from Hoya Corporation for New Omega6600 Laser Pattern Ge

Micronic Announces Order from Hoya Corporation for New Omega6600 Laser Pattern Generator Täby, Sweden, January 15, 2001 - Micronic Laser Systems AB (OM Stockholm Exchange: MICR) a company at the forefront of semiconductor and display laser pattern generators for the production of photomasks to the worldwide electronic industries, today announces an order from Hoya Corp. for its new Micronic Omega6600 laser pattern generation tool. This is an order for the latest evolution of the Omega6000 product line. Delivery will take place during the first quarter 2001. The order was booked in December, 2000. The Micronic Omega6600 generates state-of-the-art photomasks for semiconductors with feature sizes as small as 0.15 micron. The tool features outstanding critical dimension control, high throughput without data limitations and the highest resolution available in a laser pattern generator. The Micronic Omega6600 also offers a hierarchical data format and scaleable data path, enabling the shortest writing times in the industry and providing a tremendous advantage in cost of ownership. "Test data indicates that the Micronic Omega6000 Series offers a considerable advantage in write times over competitive systems," said Bert Jeppsson, president and CEO of Micronic Laser Systems AB. "As this order demonstrates, the market has been very receptive to our pattern generation technology and offering. We believe semiconductor photomask manufacturers will continue to show interest in the Micronic Omega6600 and other systems in the Omega6000 Series." In addition to the Omega6000 Series, Micronic is currently developing a next generation 0.13 micron system, the Sigma, based on its spatial light modulator (SLM) technology. The company recently announced the first sale of this tool to DuPont Photomasks, Inc. (NASDAQ:DPMI), which is scheduled to ship during the second half of 2001. About Micronic Laser Systems Micronic Laser Systems is a Swedish high-tech company engaged in the development, manufacture and marketing of a series of extremely accurate laser pattern generators for the production of photomasks. The technology involved is known as microlithography. Micronic's systems are used by the world's leading electronics companies in the manufacture of television and computer displays, semiconductor circuits and semiconductor packaging components. Micronic is located in Täby, north of Stockholm and has subsidiaries in the United States, Japan and Taiwan. Micronic is projecting to almost triple its net sales from MSEK 213 in 1999 to exceed MSEK 600 for year 2000. Micronic also announced a projected strong improvement of the operating margin for the full year. Micronic has around 260 employess worldwide. The end-year results for 2000 will be disclosed on February 1, 2001. Micronic maintains a web-site at: www.micronic.se About Hoya Corporation Hoya is a large Japanese merchant photomask manufacturer for both semiconductor and display applications. Hoya was founded in 1941 as Japan's first specialty manufacturer of optical glass. The company is the world's largest photoblank manufacturer and operates a state-of-the-art facility in Nagasaka, Japan. In addition, Hoya offers photomasks, glass magnetic disks, eyeglasses, contact lenses and a variety of other products through 36 subsidiaries in 19 countries. Hoya is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and maintains a Web site at http://www.hoya.co.jp. Company Contact: Agency Contact: Eva Kristensson Dylan McGrath Director of Investor Relations The Loomis Group, Inc. & Marketing Communications +1 415 882-9494 +46 8 638 54 98 dylan@loomisgroup.com eva.kristensson@micronic.se ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/01/15/20010115BIT00330/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/01/15/20010115BIT00330/bit0002.pdf