Fremont, CA, December 8, 1999-Asyst Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASYT) today announced that one of the world's top five semiconductor equipment manufacturers has placed a multi-system order for the company's recently introduced Asyst PLUS™ Portal.

Representing a new type of semiconductor subsystem, the PLUS Portal is a fully automated and integrated tool front-end solution specifically designed to provide an isolation and automation technologies solution for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in response to the manufacturing requirements of chipmakers to manufacture today's most advanced integrated circuits (ICs).

According to Dennis Riccio, Asyst's senior vice president of global customer operations, the milestone order represents the first major OEM to adopt a complete outsourcing strategy built around Asyst's wafer-handling system.

The new PLUS Portal system will be integrated into the customer's wafer inspection tools to manage the complex wafer handling transactions between the tool and factory floor.

"Asyst worked closely with our OEM customer to tailor the PLUS Portal so it meets stringent specifications and a critical time-to-market window," said Anthony Bonora, Asyst's senior vice president and chief technology officer.

"By leveraging our core competencies and experience, we provided a reliable and cost-effective solution optimized for both the OEM and its end-user customers' unique manufacturing requirements."

The PLUS Portal integrates Asyst's isolation technology (SMIF), material management (auto identification), wafer handling robotics, communications software and environmental control into a 'plug and play' solution for both 200 mm and 300 mm substrate applications to provide a common factory interface for several of the customer's products.

The OEM systems featuring the PLUS Portal will be installed at leading chipmakers in Asia, Europe and the United States.

"This order represents a major win for Asyst and is indicative of a new and growing trend in our industry toward system-level outsourcing," explained Riccio. "The rising cost and complexity of designing and manufacturing systems involving advanced automation schemes has led OEM equipment makers to seek outsourcing options to achieve cost-effective, reliable turnkey solutions.

"The PLUS Portal allows our OEM partners to focus on their respective core competencies, through which they can most directly impact their competitive position with end-users.

"The customer's decision to partner with Asyst was based on our ability to leverage our complete suite of products, our experience, expertise and reputation, as well as our global infrastructure to provide a viable, integrated turnkey solution in a timely fashion."

As part of the PLUS Portal program, Asyst expects that OEM customers will utilize this platform for their respective tool front-end needs, and will do so with the intent of adopting the new Portal as their standard offering.

Asyst believes that global customers will, for the first time, have the ability to pursue the vision of a common front-end platform across the fab -- a vision that Asyst is addressing with its new PLUS Portal.

Except for statements of historical fact, the statements in this press release are forward-looking. Such statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. These factors include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, semiconductor industry cycles, risks associated with the acceptance of new products and product capabilities and other factors more fully detailed in the Company's recent S-3 Registration Statement.

About Asyst:
Asyst Technologies, Inc. is the leading provider of Standard Mechanical Interface-based minienvironment and manufacturing automation systems that enable semiconductor manufacturers to protect customers' valued assets throughout the manufacturing process while increasing manufacturing productivity.

Asyst offers a broad range of 200 mm and 300 mm products that enable the Company to provide semiconductor manufacturers and Original Equipment Manufacturers automated manufacturing solutions for the transfer of wafers and information between the process equipment and the fab line.