Last week Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron held a media roundtable in Japan to discuss the merger of equals announced on September 24, 2013. Executives from both companies provided updates on the rationale behind the merger, the status of the integration planning, the expected benefits to employees, customers and the industry, as well as answered questions from the audience. Tetsuro Higashi, Chairman, President and CEO of Tokyo Electron, who will become Chairman of the new company, and Mike Splinter, Executive Chairman of Applied Materials, who will serve as Vice-Chairman, addressed the audience of more than 20 members of the Japanese media.