Boston, MA - November 2, 2005 -- The latest Strategy Analytics GaAs epitaxial wafer industry study, "SI GaAs Epitaxial Substrates 2004: Vendor Ratings and Customer Satisfaction," concludes that Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) beat the rest of the competition by a considerable margin when it came to wafer pricing.

MBE Technology claimed the top spot in the overall ratings given by end-users to their epi-wafer suppliers, with strong showings on price and other commercial parameters, as well as reasonable scores on technical requirements.

"Despite some exceptional scores in certain categories, the overall performance of epitaxial wafer suppliers has been poor when judged alongside end-user expectations," notes Asif Anwar, Director, Strategy Analytics GaAs and Compound Semiconductor Technologies service. "The industry delivered on Flatness and Test Data in 2004, however these parameters were low on the list of priorities for the end-user. Epitaxial wafer suppliers failed to meet customer expectations for every other technical and commercial parameter."

"In addition to the 11 technical and commercial parameters considered in this survey, end-users have a host of other areas that are considered when evaluating potential epitaxial substrate suppliers," observed Stephen Entwistle, Vice President, Strategic Technologies Practice. "These include business stability, quality management and past experience."