Oct. 6, 2008 - Suss MicroTec has replaced board member and CEO Stefan Schneidewind with Christian Schubert effective immediately, citing "differing views regarding the future strategy of the company." A search for a new permanent CEO will take place.

Schubert has held senior executive positions at high-tech companies Kontron, cognatec, and Intica Systems, Suss noted in a brief statement posted on the company's Web site. A lengthier statement posted to general newswires notes that Shubert's role will essentially be that of a COO, focusing on operations, structures, and processes; in the medium-term a new board member with a more technical background will be appointed.

While short-term goals are to "intensify our operations" and "examine all of the processes within the company and make them significantly more dynamic," according to Schubert, the company's basic strategic orientation will be unchanged focusing on "presumably" high-growth markets in sluggish general industry and macroeconomic environments: MEMS, advanced packaging, 3D integration, and compound semiconductors (LED).