!!! Press Release !!!

Aachen / San Jose, CA, USA, June 18, 2003 – For the fifth time, AIXTRON has been ranked in the 10 BEST Small Suppliers of Wafer Processing Equipment category of the 2003 VLSI Research Inc Customer Satisfaction Survey on Chip Making Equipment. Since this survey is carried out under 'double blind' controlled conditions it is impressive proof of the outstanding quality of both AIXTRON service and AIXTRON epitaxial CVD equipment. In addition, in reaching 4th place, up two places on last year’s position, this ranking underscores the success of AIXTRON’s increased efforts over the last year to further push the performance of its customers.

The VLSI Customer Satisfaction Survey is distributed worldwide in six languages and questions customers on critical issues such as equipment performance and customer service. As the worldwide market and technology leader in MOCVD equipment AIXTRON has continuously improved the performance and quality of its equipment as well as its customer service over the last years. The expansion of this leading position is thanks in part to the well established local service guaranteed by AIXTRON's Global Service Operations network, with subsidiaries in the US, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and a recently opened branch office in China. The GSO service network provides AIXTRON customers with on-site service support and reduced response times, while ensuring easy and fast communication with our customers. Furthermore, AIXTRON's local representation and subsidiaries in Taiwan, Japan, Korea and the USA offer spare parts stocks allowing fast access to spare parts for AIXTRON systems.

Steve Perry, Executive Vice President and COO of AIXTRON's Global Service Operations comments: "We are delighted to have once more been recognized in the 10 BEST of VLSI's Customer Satisfaction Survey and having again improved our ranking. The customer's needs are of primary importance for us. We would like to thank every customer who has taken the time to participate in this year’s VLSI Customer Satisfaction Survey and would like to reassure you that we are constantly optimizing service and advancing our technology to ensure full customer satisfaction."

AIXTRON is the world leading supplier of equipment for epitaxial films. Its equipment is used by a diverse range of customers worldwide to manufacture critical, advanced components such as HBTs, PHEMTs, MESFETs, Lasers, LEDs, Detectors and VCSELs used in fiber optic communications systems, wireless and mobile telephony applications, optical storage devices, illumination, signaling and lighting, as well as a range of other leading edge technologies. AIXTRON AG (FSE: AIX ISIN DE0005066203) is listed in the Prime Standard and Tec DAX of the German Stock Exchange (Deutsche Börse) and is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World and the MSCI World Index.

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© AIXTRON AG, June 18, 2003

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