Q1.

You revised consolidated net sales upward from 750 billion yen to 800 billion yen. What is the basis and background for this revision?

A1.

This is the value projected from current order status and backlogged orders. In our core semiconductor production equipment division, sales for memory manufacturers would increase significantly, particularly for Taiwanese and Japanese manufacturers. Currently our budget for the 2nd half of the year is being reviewed within the company, and if business continues at its current brisk pace, there is a possibility that we will revise it upwards again.

Q2.

What are your prospects for orders in the July to September 2006 period?

A2.

We believe that orders will not fall substantially, and there is a possibility that semiconductor production equipment and FPD production equipment combined will reach the 200 billion yen level. Looking at individual applications, memory is performing well while logic foundries are achieving a mild recovery, and system LSI manufacturers appear to be strong. Some FPD manufacturers are adjusting their production, and it appears that FPD production equipment will decline slightly.

Q3.

Considering the fact that investment for memory is currently strong, will orders fall substantially in the future?

A3.

There is certainly a sense that investment for memory is a little bit high, but new products that use NAND flash memory are appearing and there is a strong possibility that the market itself will expand. In addition, looking at the growth of IT in emerging economies, we believe that products that use semiconductors, such as PCs and mobile phones, may proliferate throughout the world at an even faster pace than expected. Moreover, investment for DRAM and non-memory chips does not seem excessive compared to previous investment levels, and there is no sense of concern for the medium term.

Q4.	It seems that some semiconductor manufacturers are delaying capital investment. What is your future market outlook?
A4.	Although there have been some moves where delivery to foundries and logic manufacturers have been slightly delayed, the overall impact has been minimal and it appears that orders will remain at high levels, supported by the strong investment of memory manufacturers.

Q5.	What are your prospects for orders in 2007 and 2008?
A5.	The brisk pace of business for semiconductor production equipment has continued for some time, and although there is concern on the macro level, including the high price of oil and the trend in interest rates, there is no reason at this time to believe that the environment for orders will worsen in the future.

Q6.	According to the recent revised forecast, improvement in the gross profit margin was achieved ahead of schedule. What were the underlying factors for this?
A6.	We believe that three factors contributed to the improvement: (1) higher profit margin from new products; (2) reductions in costs because of the implementation of measures to raise quality; and (3) volume benefits from higher sales.

Q7.	What are the prospects of fixed costs increasing if you have some expansion plan for manufacturing?
A7.	We periodically conduct reviews with manufacturing divisions and proceed systematically based on a medium- to long-term approach. There is a possibility of expansion in the future, but under current conditions we will respond to demand using existing manufacturing space.

Q8.

What are the market shares and the competitive status of thermal processing systems, etch systems, and wafer probers?

A8.

Orders for thermal processing systems are increasing steadily. We intend to increase sales of the systems faster than the market is expanding, and we expect to increase our share of the market during this fiscal year. We are taking measures to increase the operational efficiency of wafer prober business to raise the profit margin, and we also intend to increase our market share with new products. Concerning etch systems, we expect to raise our market share several points this fiscal year in the dielectric etch system market. Our share of the silicon etch system market has increased from 4% two years ago to 10% last fiscal year, and we expect this to increase to 13% this fiscal year.