The Tainan Manufacturing Center employs approximately 150 people. It is
expected to build and ship about 100 new PECVD and PVD systems this
year -- a 400 percent increase in shipments from last year.

"The Tainan Manufacturing Center is one of our biggest investments in
Asia and puts Taiwan at the center of our display and solar equipment
technology efforts," said Mike Splinter, chairman and CEO of Applied
Materials, in a statement.

Applied Materials has a large presence in Taiwan with more than 800 employees in 10 offices across the country.


Applied Materials topped the list of semiconductor equipment vendors
for the eighteenth consecutive year in 2009, a year in which mere
survival was noteworthy amid a painful recession and steep industry
downturn, according to market research firm VLSI Research.

The company continues to expand its efforts in Asia, especially as its
sales grow in the region. However, some believe the company is
expanding in Asia, while cutting jobs in the U.S.

In November, Applied said it expects to reduce its global
workforce by approximately 1,300-to-1,500 positions, or 10 to 12
percent, over a period of 18 months.

At that time, the company talked about a new strategy, dubbed the "The
Future Applied," sources said. As part of the plan, Applied is shifting
more and more of its ''footprint'' to Asia, according to sources.

In 2008, Applied said it planned to shift 19 percent of its jobs from
Texas to Singapore, according to reports. At that time, Applied (Santa
Clara, Calif.) had some 2,400 employees in Austin, Texas, where it has
a manufacturing site. Over the next three years, some 350 to 450 of
those jobs will move to Singapore

In late 2008, Applied broke ground for the construction of a new
operations facility in Singapore. The facility will serve as a hub for
Applied throughout Asia. The 32,000-square-meter facility is located in
the Changi North Industrial Park.


Then, in October of 2009, Applied opened what it described as
the largest non-government solar energy research facility in the world
in Xi'an, China. Applied first broke ground in Xi'an in 2006, the
company said. The total investment in the multi-phase project is more
than $250 million dollars.

Now, it is expanding in Taiwan. The Tainan site's location and
extensive supply chain in Asia will enable Applied to more rapidly meet
the demands of its large base of display and solar customers in Asia,
according to Applied.