Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Your first question comes from the line of Suresh Balaraman - Think Equity Partners.
Suresh Balaraman - Think Equity Partners
Regarding the pads, how many of those 11 customers could be using it on thousands of wafer starts per month by end of this year?
William P. Noglows
Suresh, I think in previous calls, we’ve discussed the qualification process for our pad technology, and it’s difficult for us to say at any one time which of the 11 customers that are buying our pads today and where they are in their qualification process and how broadly they’ve incorporated our pad across their line.
So, we’re going to be cautious on what we say in our future revenue or future pad sales because we have limited ability to either predict or control the qualification process going forward.
As you know, there’s probably a handful of customers that might buy pads on the orders of thousands per month, so we’re delighted with the pad sale that we talked about this morning, that we talked about last quarter, that which is at the leading edge node in copper technology. And we’re delighted that that one has ramped as quickly as it has. And we would expect and hope that others would do the same over this full fiscal year and into next year.
But we’re going to be cautious about what we say about qualifications going forward. Because I’ve been wrong before, as some of you may remember, about my enthusiasm about our pad technology and how fast it would be incorporated, so we’re going to be careful going forward, on what we say and what we think.
Suresh Balaraman - Think Equity Partners
And I, for one, was surprised by the strength of Q4, and historically the way I remember is that Q4 has planned shutdowns during the Christmas holidays and that has been seasonally weaker. Has something changed in this year versus prior years? Why is it much stronger?
William P. Noglows
I think what we’ve heard, Suresh, and you’ve probably heard the same things, is that electronic systems and electronic products and consumer electronics products sales prior to and through the Christmas holiday were very strong. And I think they were stronger than people expected or anticipated.
What we’ve come to learn and hear is that most of the consumers, particularly in North America, they may have canceled trips and not bought expensive handbags, but they ran out and bought iPhones and laptops and iPods. And I think that drove a lot of the consumer electronic demand through the holiday season.
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