ASM International is an equipment supplier mainly to the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Co. designs, manufactures and sells equipment and services to its customers for the production of semiconductor devices, or integrated circuits. Co.'s front-end segment manufactures and sells equipment used in wafer processing, encompassing the fabrication steps in which silicon wafers are layered with semiconductor devices. Co.'s back-end segment manufactures and sells equipment and materials used in assembly and packaging, encompassing the processes in which silicon wafers are separated into individual circuits and subsequently assembled, packaged and tested.