Fremont, CA, March 8, 2000 - Asyst Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq NM: ASYT) today announced that it has received a multimillion-dollar order from Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. for its fab-wide automation solution. The order includes Asyst's SMIF-LPT™ line of products, 200 mm SMIF-Pods™, minienvironments, SMART-Tags™, wafer sorters and a FluoroTrac® auto-ID system. Silterra intends to initially use the products—to be installed at Silterra's manufacturing facility in Kulim, Malaysia in July—in the production of 0.25- and 0.18-micron CMOS digital and mixed-signal processors.

Silterra's Vice President of Operations K. C. Ang cited his past eight years of experience in working with Asyst SMIF products while starting up three new fabs in Southeast Asia as a key factor in choosing Asyst for this order. "Asyst's advanced wafer isolation and material handling and tracking technologies are critical in optimizing our yields and improving our overall equipment efficiency. At Silterra, these products will help provide the backbone for our manufacturing philosophy, which is vital to the success of this new fab. Silterra is looking to experienced equipment suppliers and technology leaders like Asyst to provide solutions that help eliminate problems on the fab floor, such as wafer contamination and mishandling, and ensure we meet our goal of achieving a target capacity of thirty thousand 200 mm wafers per month by 2002."

"This order marks a significant step for Asyst in entering the Malaysian market, and is indicative of the global demand for Asyst factory automation solutions," stated Mihir Parikh, Asyst's chairman and chief executive officer. "Malaysia is a new growing center of semiconductor fabrication, with two new fabs expected to be fully operational by the end of this year. We intend to open a field service office in Kulim that will allow Asyst to provide Silterra with the same level of on-site local support, which we believe has been successful in other parts of the Asia-Pacific region."

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 Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.: Founded in December of 1997, Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. is a full-service semiconductor manufacturing provider that offers customers leading-edge process technologies. Silterra's factory will be operational in Q4 2000, ramping to 30,000 eight-inch wafers per month by 2002. Silterra will have immediate access to LSI Logic's capacity on the licensed technologies to qualify and develop customers. Silterra is headquartered in Kulim, Malaysia, with sales and marketing office in Sunnyvale, California.

About Asyst
Asyst Technologies, Inc. is the leading provider of SMIF-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 OEMs automated manufacturing solutions for the transfer of wafers and information between the process equipment and the fab line.

SMIF-LPT, SMIF-Indexer, SMIF-Enclosure and SMART-Tag are trademarks of Asyst Technologies.