"Toshiba, NEC eye raising Rambus DRAM output"
biz.yahoo.com
>>>Friday February 9, 1:28 am Eastern Time
Toshiba, NEC eye raising Rambus DRAM output
(UPDATE: Adds rally in chip testing equipment shares, paras 3-4)
TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Japanese chip and PC maker Toshiba Corp said on Friday it will more than triple its output of Rambus DRAM chips by September while cutting commodity DRAM production, and NEC Corp said it is eyeing a similar move.
A Toshiba spokesman said the company would boost its output of Direct Rambus DRAMs, which use technology from Rambus Inc (Nasdaq:RMBS - news) that speeds up memory chip performance, to eight million units per month by September from the current 2.3 million units, based on a 128MB equivalent.
The news spurred a rally in shares of Japanese manufacturers of semiconductor testing equipment, with Ando Electric Co Ltd , considered particularly well-positioned for Rambus DRAMs, surging 10 percent to end at 1,100 yen, scoring its first higher close this month.
Another testing device maker, Advantest Corp , ended seven percent higher at 13,600 yen, while Tokyo Electron Ltd , Japan's biggest supplier of chipmaking equipment, was up five percent at 8,300 yen.
The faster Rambus chips, which fetch about twice the price of commodity DRAMs, are used in generating the three-dimensional graphics of Sony Corp's PlayStation 2 game console, which require quick memory response. They are also in demand for use with Intel Corp's (Nasdaq:INTC - news) new Pentium 4 microprocessor.
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The spokesman said Toshiba would concurrently cut commodity DRAM output roughly in half to 4.5 to 5.0 million units per month.
NEC, also one of Japan's biggest chipmakers, said it was considering boosting its Rambus DRAM output as it compiles capital spending plans for the business year that begins in April.
``They (Rambus DRAMs) have higher value-added,'' an NEC spokesman said. ``We expect demand for them will increase.''
He said no final decision had been made on a production increase, however, declining to confirm a report in the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun that NEC would boost its total Rambus DRAM output by September by 150 percent, to five million units per month, at plants in Japan, Britain and China.
The Nihon Keizai said NEC would supply the increased output to a DRAM development and sales joint venture with Hitachi Ltd .
Prices for commodity DRAM chips have slumped since last summer, weighing on chipmakers' earnings.
Toshiba said low DRAM prices were partly to blame for a downward revision on Tuesday of its profit estimates for the business year to March. It cut its forecast for 2000/01 to a group net profit to 96 billion yen ($822.4 million) from 137 billion yen.
Toshiba's shares ended 0.14 percent higher at 709 yen on Friday, steadying over the past two sessions after Tuesday's profit warning sent them reeling to a 15-month low of 698 yen.
NEC was also marginally higher, up 0.47 percent at 2,130 yen.<<< |
