Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
[Operator Instructions]
We will go first to Satya Kumar.
Satya Kumar - Credit Suisse
Yes, hi. Thanks for taking my question. Rick, on this pick up that you talked about that you're seeing in the back half of the year, that seems to contrast pretty sharply with what Lam talked about last week, where they talked about memory being down 40 to 50% in the back half.
Could you help us reconcile what you might be seeing that might be different than what Lam is seeing, i.e., is this because of your lower exposure to some of the Taiwanese DM companies, are you more exposed to some of the logic guys are spending, but more in the back half?
Rick Hill
Well, again, my projection of what's going to happen in the future is a function of what I think capital expenditures are going to become, relative to our customer set. We are strongly exposed to the memory business. I remain bullish on memory, both flash and DRAM. DRAM being driven, as I said before, by the implementation of Vista, so I expect to see that continue.
I also expect to see foundries pick up in activity as we see more consolidation within the industry and the movement to fabless semiconductor companies within the United States, hence further shipped away from the US producing capability.
I think on the Flash front, I think you're going to see more and more hard drive replacement by NAND Flash toward the end of the year. And I think again, that will help absorb some of what is viewed as excess capacity in the Flash market. But predicting the future is an inexact science at the best. And so this is what our views are. But there's no certainty that those will occur, and I did not, or do not listen to the Lam reports. We try to look at our own data independently. So that's the best I can do to help you.
Satya Kumar - Credit Suisse
That's helpful, Rick. If I can ask a quick follow-up. I noticed that share count was a bit -- was flat in the quarter. Can you talk a little bit about buyback strategy here?
Rick Hill
Well, as you know, we still have an additional $500 million available to us for a buyback. That's the most information we give out relative to our strategy on buyback. And during the quarter, I do not believe we bought any shares back.
- To read the full transcript on Seeking Alpha, click here »
