Talk:Applied Materials

Note from article

Etching now leads to a page about wet etching--not really what applied does. It should be redirected to plasma etching

A well-meaning anon visitor left this message directly in the middle of the article. I moved it here, wher it belongs:

(--NOTE TO EDITORS - Etching link leads to the etching as a visual arts technique page, not etching as a semiconductor manufacture techniquepage. Disambiguation needed!)

There you have it. — Frecklefoot | Talk 19:42, July 30, 2005 (UTC)

The aforementioned anon put the same note back. He is a regular contributor, not a visitor, and regularly reverts edits made to his work. I converted the note to an inline comment. Perhaps he will be satisfied with that. --Blainster 08:45, 4 August 2005 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as stub, and the rating on other projects was brought up to Stub class. BetacommandBot 14:01, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

POV and copyright

I removed the intro, because it was copied from http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/applied-materials-launches-breakthrough-pvd/story.aspx?guid=%7B55F5A480-6336-4EE8-BB4F-0816184362D5%7D. In general, the article still has a POV problem in that it's biased toward the company. Superm401 - Talk 22:47, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

COI edit requests

Hi, I work with a communications firm that represents Applied Materials. I have some suggestions for improving and simplifying this article:

1. Update the lead to describe Applied Materials’ current products and services. Here’s my suggested text:

   Applied Materials, Inc. is an American corporation that supplies equipment, services and software to enable the manufacture of semiconductor, flat panel displays, and solar products. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, in the Silicon Valley.
   

   Applied Materials creates and commercializes equipment used in the production of semiconductor (integrated circuit) chips for electronics; flat panel displays for computers, smartphones and televisions; solar cells; and coatings for flexible electronics, packaging and other applications. (Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/AMAT:US)

   These are the edits I made:

   • Removed the reference to “glass” in the first paragraph and “glass coatings for homes and buildings” in the second paragraph. Applied Materials is no longer involved in glass coatings for homes and buildings. (Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/AMAT:US)
   • Removed references to “thin film.” Applied Materials no longer sells solar equipment for thin film panels, though the company is still in the solar business. In the first paragraph, I suggest changing “solar (crystalline and thin film) products” to “solar products.” In the second paragraph, I suggest changing “photovoltaic solar cells and modules using both thin film and crystalline (wafer or bulk) photovoltaic technology” to “solar cells.” (Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/AMAT:US)
   • Removed “WEB” in the opening sentence. WEB refers to roll-to-roll web coating, which is a manufacturing method, not a product in itself, so it’s inaccurate to say that Applied Materials provides equipment, services, and software to enable the manufacture of WEB. Additionally, web coatings are explained in the second paragraph.
   • In the second paragraph, I clarified the description of web coatings. I suggest changing “web (flexible substrate) coatings for industry” to “coatings for flexible electronics, packaging and other applications,” which is accurate.
   • For clarity and accessibility, I changed “nanomanufacturing technology” to “equipment.”

 Partly done, condensed for conciseness. Altamel (talk) 20:20, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

1. • In the second paragraph, I changed “electronic gear” to “electronics,” in order to represent the full range of products that use semiconductor chips.

2. Update 2014 financial numbers to 2015 numbers. (Source: http://www.appliedmaterials.com/company/news/press-releases/2015/11/applied-materials-announces-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-year-2015-results)
   • Revenue: US $ 9.66 billion (2015)
   • Operating income: US $ 1.69 billion (2015)
   • Net income: US $ 1.38 billion (2015)
   • Total assets: US $ 15.31 billion (2015)
   • Total equity: US $ 7.61 billion (2015)
   • Number of employees: ~14,600 (October 2015)

 Done Altamel (talk) 20:20, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

1. Move relevant acquisitions and announcements from the “Energy and Environmental Solutions” section to the History section (in chronological order).
   • I suggest removing the paragraph on SunFab. The product has been discontinued and the company no longer sells equipment for thin film solar, so I’d say it isn’t a noteworthy piece of the company’s history.

 Not done, I don't think it is normal practice to remove a product just because it was discontinued. There may be reasons to remove the paragraph if there were concerns about promotionalism. But per WP:Notability is not temporary, I'll leave it in there for now, because it has been covered by several independent sources. Altamel (talk) 20:20, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

1. Revise the “Facilities” text to represent the range of Applied Materials’ facility locations and cut extraneous information. I suggest:

   Applied operates in many locations globally, including in Europe, Japan, North America (principally the United States), Israel, China, India, Korea, Southeast Asia and Taiwan. (Source: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/6951/000000695115000034/amat10252015-10xkdoc.htm#s62D7400CD0905E1A936E4CFB781A1305) Applied moved into its Bowers Avenue headquarters in Santa Clara, CA, in 1974. (Source: http://www.appliedmaterials.com/company/about/history/early-years)

 Done Altamel (talk) 20:20, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

1. In the Management section, correct the title of the Chairman of the Board of Directors. The title and name should be: "Chairman of the Board of Directors: Willem P. Roelandts" (Source: http://www.appliedmaterials.com/company/about/leadership/directors)

 Done Altamel (talk) 20:20, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

Due to my COI, I will not be editing the article directly. I’d greatly appreciate any help or feedback. Thank you! Mary Gaulke (talk) 19:26, 1 March 2016 (UTC); request edit template added Mary Gaulke (talk) 19:35, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

Hi Mary, and thanks for your suggestions. In the future, it would be helpful if you formatted your citations using Wikipedia's citation templates, that will make my job of implementing the proposed edits easier. Bare URLs are discouraged because they are much more vulnerable to linkrot. Altamel (talk) 20:20, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

Thanks so much, Altamel! Really appreciate the quick response and detailed feedback. Sheepish to admit I didn't know about the Reflist-talk template before; I'll definitely use that moving forward. Mary Gaulke (talk) 00:35, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Additional edit requests

Hi Altamel, thanks again for your help here. I have a few more suggestions if you have the time to take a look:

• Removing the last sentence of the "Facilities" section—It’s inaccurate and also inconsistent with the rest of the section. (They didn’t move into a headquarters in 1974 that was constructed in 1988.)

 Done Altamel (talk) 20:26, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

• I think it might make sense to move the “Organization” section above the "History" section, to give readers a clearer sense right off the bat about what it is Applied Materials does.

 Not done, as it is customary for Wikipedia articles on corporations to start with a history section and then describe how the company is organized (e.g. Google, Apple, United Technologies). Altamel (talk) 20:26, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

• I also suggest rewording the first sentence of the “Organization” section as follows: “Applied is organized into four reporting segments: Silicon Systems, Applied Global Services, Display, and Energy and Environmental Solutions (EES).” This reflects how the segments are named on Applied’s site and reorders them in order of size (largest to smallest).

 Done Altamel (talk) 20:26, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

• Restoring the "Semiconductor (Silicon Systems Group)" subsection that was deleted in this diff—there’s no reason provided for the removal, and Silicon Systems is still a major part of the business. Since this section only had one, primary source when it was deleted, I’ve also grabbed a few secondary sources to replace it and revised the text slightly in accordance:

=== Silicon Systems ===

The company develops and manufactures equipment used for various processes in semiconductor chip fabrication, including atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), rapid thermal processing (RTP), chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), ion implantation and wafer inspection. The company acquired Semitool for this group in late 2009.

 Partly done, reworded slightly. Altamel (talk) 20:26, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

• Adding a bit more to the “History” section, which currently has a gap in the early years:

Initially, Applied expanded rapidly, until a severe recession hit the semiconductor industry in 1975. James C. Morgan became CEO of the company in 1977 and led Applied in phasing out unprofitable products and returning the company’s focus to semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Within one year, sales increased by 17%.

In 1984, Applied Materials became the first U.S. semiconductor equipment manufacturer to open its own technology center in Japan and the first semiconductor equipment company to operate a service center in China. In 1987, Applied introduced a CVD machine called the Precision 5000, which differed from existing machines by incorporating diverse processes into a single machine that had multiple process chambers.

 Not done: I request that a source other than the Silicon Valley Historical Society be used to verify the first paragraph. The website's description of Applied Materials is very promotional, and I haven't been able to verify the 17% increase in sales elsewhere. Altamel (talk) 20:26, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

Thank you again! Mary Gaulke (talk) 02:58, 16 April 2016 (UTC), request edit template added Mary Gaulke (talk) 17:33, 21 April 2016 (UTC)

References

Hi Mary. I wasn't able to respond to your edit request immediately because of real life obligations last week. Some of your suggestions have been implemented. Altamel (talk) 20:26, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

Thanks again for your time and help here, Altamel. Per your feedback, I've come up with alternate sources for the suggested History section addition, and revised it accordingly:

In subsequent years, the company diversified, until James C. Morgan became CEO in 1976 and returned the company’s focus to its core business of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. By 1978, sales increased by 17%.

In 1984, Applied Materials became the first U.S. semiconductor equipment manufacturer to open its own technology center in Japan and the first semiconductor equipment company to operate a service center in China. In 1987, Applied introduced a CVD machine called the Precision 5000, which differed from existing machines by incorporating diverse processes into a single machine that had multiple process chambers.

Also, in light of the primary sources template at the top of the page, I wanted to note that one of the sources above could also be used for "In 1993, the Applied Materials' Precision 5000 was inducted into the Smithsonian Institution's permanent collection of Information Age technology.", which is already in the "History" section of the article. Here's a secondary source for "In 2009, Applied Materials opened its Solar Technology Center—the world’s largest commercial solar energy research and development facility in Xi’an, China." And here's a secondary source for the very end of the "Organization" section: "Applied Materials also operates a venture investing arm called Applied Ventures."

Thank you again! Mary Gaulke (talk) 18:19, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

References

 Done Jytdog (talk) 01:33, 12 June 2016 (UTC)

Thanks so much, Jytdog! Do you think this is enough to merit removing the primary sources flag at the top of the page? Mary Gaulke (talk) 19:56, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

Maintenance tags removed

As requested by @MaryGaulke: on my talkpage, I have briefly checked the article's status and removed both maintenance tags. While the article still has its flaws, both problems (COI-editing and dependance on primary sources) have been significantly reduced with recent edits. A few suggestions for further improvements:

• "Organization" lists 5 sub-areas, however the section's intro sentence mentions only 4. Ideally intro sentence and later paragraphs should have the same structure.
• One of the article's main flaws (imo) is the excessively detailed listing of dozens of acquisitions. The article would be improved, if some of the less-notable acquisitions could be trimmed - possibly in favor of a more general, and more reader-friendly, description of the company's evolution.
• Following the previous point, the article suffers from a lot of stubby single-sentence paragraphs, making the article very "listy". Whereever possible, such details should be merged in larger topical paragraphs.

Having said that, especially the COI-tag should only be applied, when there are ongoing "significant or substantial problems with the article's neutrality". Despite room for improvement, recent changes have sufficiently addressed most of those concerns. GermanJoe (talk) 07:23, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

• Also pinging @Altamel: and @Jytdog: as recent main contributors for edit requests - just fyi. GermanJoe (talk) 07:47, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

External links modified

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Edit requests: Revising section organization and updating infobox

Hi! As noted above, I work for a communications agency that represents Applied Materials. It's been a year and a half since my last post and I'd like to request a few updates to this article:

• In infobox:
  •  Done Update Chairman to Thomas J. Iannotti
  •  Done Latest top-level numbers:

| revenue = US $ 14.54 billion (2017)

| operating_income = US $ 3.87 billion (2017)

| net_income = US $ 3.43 billion (2017)

| assets = US $ 19.42 billion (2017)

| equity = US $ 9.35 billion (2017)

| num_employees = ~18,400 (October 2017)

•  Done (including additional tweaks) Organization section: As GermanJoe noted above, the intro to this section is in conflict with the number of subsections. I propose the following changes:
  • Update first sentence: Applied is organized into three major business sectors: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets.
  • Rename "Silicon Systems" subsection to "Semiconductor Systems"
  • Rename "Display" to "Display and Adjacent Markets"
  • Rename "Service" to "Applied Global Services" and move "Automation Software" to be a subsection of that section
  •  Not done (see additional comments) Create a new subsection, "Former business segments," containing the Energy and Environmental Solutions subsection
• Management section:
  •  Done Again, update Chairman to Thomas J. Iannotti
  •  Done Update Chief Financial Officer to Dan Durn

References

Due to my COI, I won't be editing directly. I'd appreciate any help or feedback in getting these edits implemented. Thank you! Mary Gaulke (talk) 23:44, 20 November 2017 (UTC)

Hello @MaryGaulke:, I have updated the leadership changes accordingly (technically ref #4 is only an annoucement, but the info should be uncontroversial). I will need a bit more time with the other changes, especially with the sectioning - if noone else beats me to them, I'll try to have a second look until next weekend. GermanJoe (talk) 22:26, 28 November 2017 (UTC)

I so appreciate the quick response. Thank you, GermanJoe. Mary Gaulke (talk) 22:39, 28 November 2017 (UTC)

I have now updated the numbers per the referenced 2017 report and changed the "Organization" section based on your suggestions. However, I have included a few additional tweaks: 1) I merged small paragraphs to reduce the article's list-y structure, 2) I did not create a separate "Former sectors" section (sections that include only 1 sub-section should be avoided), and 3) trimmed the EES section a bit - the coverage seemed too detailed in relation to other sectors (see below for some additional thoughts).

On a sidenote: if you'd like to suggest a larger rewrite eventually, you can also create it in a separate page in your userspace, and just link to it. Especially for larger changes this may be better manageable, as a talkpage can get cluttered and disorganized rather quickly. But that's just an optional suggestion for future changes (depending on their size). GermanJoe (talk) 05:01, 5 December 2017 (UTC)

Thank you again! Totally agree re: Talk page clutter, but I know lots of reviewers like to see the itemized changes regardless, so often for larger proposals I'll provide both options (the list of requests and the sandbox mockup). Just trying to make things as easy as possible for the volunteers who help me out. :) Appreciate your time! Mary Gaulke (talk) 23:03, 13 December 2017 (UTC)

Current article status

A few random thoughts on the current article status:

• The article still includes a rather large list of "Applied acquired X" mentions without real context and noteworthy detail. In my opinion the selection of mentioned acquisitions is not restrictive enough. It would be better to name less acquisitions but with more substantial backgound information. Whereever possible lists and list-y sections should be avoided in favor of compact detailed prose.
• Related to the first point, "History" and "Organization" have some overlap. Parts of historical information are "hidden" in sector descriptions, which is not ideal. I am not sure about a good solution to distinguish these 2 sections more clearly, but this could use some thought.
• Compared with other sectors, information in the EES section seems too detailed (admittedly it's difficult to decide which details are noteworthy and which are not). I am also not sure if the current section structure regarding EES is the best solution (but lack any better idea atm). GermanJoe (talk) 05:25, 5 December 2017 (UTC)

Obviously these are not concrete suggestions, just some pointers about current flaws and possible future improvements. GermanJoe (talk) 05:01, 5 December 2017 (UTC)