Meidensha Corporation (Meiden) and Applied Materials, Inc. announced a strategic relationship to provide remanufactured pre-owned chipmaking systems and related repair and maintenance services to Asia's semiconductor manufacturers.

A newly-opened center, established as the Shanghai Meiden Semiconductor Company Limited (SMS) and located in the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, Shanghai, China, will begin production this month.

"We are very pleased to be collaborating with Meiden to address this opportunity," noted Dr. David N.K. Wang, executive vice president of Applied Materials and general manager of the Applied Global Services group. "This new Shanghai facility is the fourth regional center in our worldwide system remanufacturing network, in addition to centers in Texas, France and Japan, allowing us to be close to our customers and provide them with high-value products and services. By offering new system functionality, along with warranties and service options, these remanufactured systems are an exceptional value that can be purchased strategically by customers to add incremental fab capacity at cost-effective prices."

Applied Materials, the largest supplier of remanufactured systems to the semiconductor industry, has provided customers with nearly 400 remanufactured systems since 1994. To provide optimum performance, its remanufactured systems feature Applied Materials original components, many of its latest part designs and upgrades, as well as installation and warranties. The remanufactured systems are sold through Applied Materials' customer account representatives.