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The article reports on the decision of Brookfield, Connecticut-based Photronics Inc. to stop manufacturing photomasks at its facility in Austin, Texas and to cut its global work force. This is in connection to the company's decision to reduce unproductive high-end photomask manufacturing in North America. It further reports that the manufacturing will be done in other photomask facilities overseas.

The article reports on the agreement made by International Business Machine Corp. and Toppan Printing Co. Ltd. in expanding the photomask process development in the U.S. The development deal encompasses the last phase of 32-nm photomask manufacturing procedure development to be done at IBM's Burlington photomask facility in Essex Junction, VT. It states that the working process is essential to the growth of lithography technologies that will be in demand to make future-generation semiconductors.

The article reports on the decision of merchant photomask supplier Photronics Inc. to close its manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas. An estimated number of 80 employees of the firm will be losing their job. The reduction of unproductive high-end photomask manufacturing in North America influenced the facility closure. The plant closure surfaced after the firm announced its plan to construct a factory in Korea.