Though expecting chip equipment spending to fall this year (like others), Applied Materials...

Though expecting chip equipment spending to fall this year (like others), Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) CEO Mike Splinter predicts demand will rebound in 2013, and says he's "slightly more optimistic" about 2012 spending than last month, thanks to the impact of strong mobile device demand. He adds Applied now expects its acquisition of Varian Semiconductor to eventually result in $80M in annual cost savings, up from a prior $50M-$60M.