"Anyone who has come up against KLA, and subsequently, KLA-Tencor in the competitive used equipment market will not be surprised to hear that this kind of activity took place. The company’s take-no-prisoners attitude to crushing competition by any means possible, including monopolistic anticompetitive trade practices has many of it’s present and former customers wishing they had any other choice besides KLA for their metrology requirements. ('I’ll never purchase anything from KLA again' is a common refrain.)

"Former KLA field service engineers hate the company and its management. (Most of the long-time grunt employees who grew the company and were the customer interface were unceremoniously dumped any time there was a downturn--and then often prevented from going into similar businesses.) Loads of former customers hate the company. Competitors in the used equipment business detest the company. Little, if anything of the decent corporate culture of Tencor remains in the transmogrified KLA-Tencor. And the few remaining Tencor employees remain at the company--often dangling by a tenuous thread. That thread will be severed if it will save KLA a nickel.

"For many, the only good news to come out of company headquarters is to see some of these arrogant, greedy, 'I’m-I’ll-right-Jack…' characters get their comeuppance. Investors should know who they are investing in. A company this widely reviled leaves the door wide open for any competitor who can gain a foothold. The Chinese and others will develop their own metrology solutions, and any viable solution will be embraced by those who have been mistreated by KLA-Tencor."