Vanguard Int'l Semiconductor began making money in March
Taipei, April 9, 2000 (CENS)--Despite Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. suffering serious losses over the past 30 months, the firm began making money in March, executives of the firm said Sunday.
Morris Chang, concurrently chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and Vanguard, said that Vanguard will have more room to develop if the firm begins making money. Vanguard will be able to either develop independently or merge with TSMC, Chang said.
Vanguard was originally a specialized DRAM manufacturer, but eventually it will become a wafer foundry firm, according to Chang. The sales ratio of DRAM and wafer foundry products will each represent 50% of revenue in 2000, Chang said.
Due to the economic downturn in the international DRAM market over the past three years, Vanguard suffered losses for three straight years. The firm was in the red to NT$670 million in 1997, NT$5.57 billion in 1998, and NT$2 billion in 1999.
The price of 16M DRAM products recovered in the first three months of this year and sales of the wafer foundry business increased accordingly. The firm is expected to enjoy a total pretax profit of more than NT$2 billion in 2000.
In the first three months, the firm's sales of wafer foundry products totaled 12,000 units for the first time. The firm enjoyed brisk sales in DRAM and wafer foundry business.
The firm is optimistic that its revenue and pretax profits will continue growing in both April and May. After the firm's 0.18 micron-based 64M DRAM products begin mass production in June, Vanguard expects its pretax profits will grow sharply in the future. |
