Taiwan Semi(a C-Cube foundry) to see 50% utilization rates in Q2. They were running at 110% last summer.............
eet.com
TSMC makes deeper cuts to capital spending plan
By Mike Clendenin
EE Times
(03/20/01, 5:44 a.m. EST)
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Falling in line with several Japanese chip makers, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is slicing an additional $307 million from its capital expenditures because of lower than expected demand for ICs. The 12 percent cut brings the foundry's 2001 capital investment down to about $2.1 billion.
"The change will target our 8-inch operations. None of our 12-inch plans will be affected," said a spokesman for TSMC. The decision comes a week after the company said it might delay the tool move-in at Fab 14, one of two dedicated 12-inch wafer fabs under construction.
Late last week, Deutsche Bank predicted that the foundry would see its utilization rate drop to 50 percent in the second quarter before inching its way upward again to 65 percent in the third quarter and 80 percent in the fourth quarter. The company does not comment on its utilization rate or pricing but a manager at one of the foundry's major customers said, "TSMC's pricing is not that stable right now. When capacity is not running at 100 percent we can get changes. It's something we don't really discuss because they would get ticked off."
TSMC's number-one competitor, United Microelectronics Corp., said no changes have been made in its expenditure plans. UMC will spend about $1.5 billion this year, down from $2.8 billion last year. "I don't really see any adjustment below that. Most of that spending is for strategic 12-inch fabs and some copper process equipment," said Alex Hinnawi, a spokesman at United. "I think some other companies were a bit optimistic in the beginning and didn't adjust down that much. We've already made significant cuts."
A handful of Japanese firms, including Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC and Toshiba, are also looking at trimming capital equipment spending by more than 20 percent this year. |
