Samsung continues capacity expansion ...

!!! Press Release !!!

Samsung continues capacity expansion
for mass production of UHB-LEDs
With a repeated order for the AIX 2600G3HT Planetary Reactor system

Aachen / Suwon-City, 15 December, 2003 - AIXTRON AG the leading supplier of Compound Semiconductor TechnologieS is pleased to announce another repeat order from Samsung Electro Mechanics (SEMCO), based in Suwon-City, South Korea for one further GaN MOCVD mass production system. This is already the third AIX 2600G3HT large scale production system delivered to SEMCO. This production tool will be added to the previously installed systems at their recently opened MOCVD facility expansion.

Since their first order of an AIXTRON MOCVD reactor back in 1997, SEMCO has been constantly increasing their installed base of AIXTRON reactors for the mass production for numerous products like consumer Optoelectronics and GaN based LEDs.

Dr. JeWon Kim, Manager at SEMCO states: "Our first 24x2 inch reactor, the AIX 2600G3HT, which had been installed at our new fab earlier this year has already been proven and qualified as mass production system for our high end UHB-GaN-LED products. With the exceptional uniformities and the unrivalled production yield the AIX 2600G3HT has been clearly evaluated as the future platform for the next phase capacity expansion of our MOCVD facilities.”

Y.Y. Kim, General Manager of the local AIXTRON Korea office adds: "We very much value SEMCO’s confidence in our state of the art Planetary Reactor Technology, and would like to express our appreciation for their continuing progress on this fast developing market for high quality GaN LEDs, which is also reflected in their massive production capacity ramp up. This again demonstrates the technological leadership of the AIXTRON MOCVD equipment. AIXTRON Korea has enforced the local service operations team, now providing highly experienced, local based, GaN MOCVD process experts, as well as an improved local spare parts stock.”

AIXTRON is, as verified by a independent market research institute, the world leading supplier of equipment for semiconductor epitaxy. 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 communication 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 MSCI World Index.

For further information please contact:

Dr. Claus Ehrenbeck
Head of Investor Relations and
Corporate Communications
AIXTRON AG
Kackertstr. 15 - 17
D-52072 Aachen, Germany
Phone:+49 241 8909 444
Fax: +49 241 8909 445
E-mail: invest@aixtron.com