We aim to build long-term relationships with our customers by supplying them with the right products at the right time, and giving them excellent service. The world’s biggest chip makers, and many of the smaller ones, have been our customers for years. In 2011, we derived 66% of net sales from Asia (2010: 80.5%), 25% from the United States (2010: 15%) and 9% from Europe (2010: 4.5%).

Our customers expect high quality, tailored support for the high-value products we sell them. We have customer centers around the world and service engineers on standby to make sure our customers get optimal performance from our systems. We also monitor and service systems online so we can act quickly.

Our customers set increasingly ambitious sustainability requirements. We work closely with them to meet sustainability targets throughout the value chain.

In 2011, we again ranked in the 10 BEST in the customer satisfaction survey conducted by VLSIresearch among large suppliers of semiconductor equipment. VLSIresearch is an independent industry research firm. Covering 95% of the global semiconductor market, its annual customer satisfaction survey gives chip makers the chance to evaluate suppliers on equipment performance and cus­tomer service.

The VLSIresearch rankings are an important customer satisfaction benchmark for us. However, we wanted to ask our customers more specific questions and in 2011 conducted our first extensive customer satisfaction survey. We sought feedback on the extent to which our products meet our customers’ requirements. We also asked about our service level, the attitude of our employees and were curious to know whether our customers are familiar with all the features of our systems and are able to use them to the fullest extent.