Siliconware, ASE Prepare for Expected Semiconductor Market Boom in 2000
November 23, 1999 (TAIPEI) -- Taiwan's Siliconware Group and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Group (ASE) are gearing up for an the expected boom in the semiconductor market in 2000.
Siliconware recently set up an investment company to push foreign investment and mergers of affiliates. Siliconware Corp., a subsidiary of the group, has ended its IC packing operations and is now focused on testing in the hope of challenging the No.1 position of ASE Test Ltd. A subsidiary of ASE Group, ASE Test is the largest IC testing firm in the world, with common shares listed on the NASDAQ. ASE recently bought up packing factories in Taiwan, Korea and the United States.
In order to reinforce its competitiveness in the testing sector, Siliconware plans to spend NT$2 billion in the first quarter of next year to buy 30 new testing machines. This will bring its total to 133 machines.
As for a rumor that the Siliconware Group is planning to merge three of its affiliates, an executive of Siliconware said that while there is no such plan at the present time, his company will consider any moves that might benefit operations. A spokesman from the group's investment company revealed that the group does plan to merge affiliates, but there have yet to be any moves in that direction. Before making any decisions, the group wants to observe how United Microelectronics Group manages its tax problems following the merger of five of its affiliates earlier this year, according to the spokesman.
This year was a relatively dull year for Taiwan's packing and testing sectors. Packing prices fell more than 20 percent last year after smaller packing plants mushroomed, which in turned limited development of these companies and forced them out of the market. The phenomenon, however, has benefited big operators such as Siliconware and ASE.
(Commercial Times, Taiwan)
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