Vanguard to stop 16M DRAM production end of july
Vanguard International Semiconductor to reduce DRAM production
Taipei, July 15, 2001 (CENS)--In line with the current weak market demand, Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. claimed Sunday that the firm has already cut the production capacity of its DRAM products by between 20% and 25%.
Chien Shieh-jen, president, said that the price of DRAM products is close to the changing cost. In order to avoid fierce price competition, Vanguard decided to cut the production of its DRAM products since last month, Chien said.
Vanguard began to reduce its 16Mb DRAM products by between 15% and 25% in June, compared with the same month in 2000. It is expected that the firm will completely suspend the production of its 16Mb DRAM products by the end of July and reduce the production of 64Mb DRAM products as well.
Vanguard will switch the production of its DRAM products to high-end 128Mb DRAM and 256Mb SDRAM products soon. The firm is also in a better position to produce DDR (double data rate) products.
Over the past few months, Vanguard has suffered losses from sales of its DRAM products in the market. Meanwhile, the overall supply is surpassing the demand and it is expected that the demand will remain low in the third quarter, according to Chien.
Presently, Vanguard maintains only a 75% of its production utility rate. Most capacity is used for the production of 16Mb DRAM products.
Vanguard expects to cease the production of its 16Mb DRAM products and use the idle capacity to manufacture flash memory products, using 0.18 micron-based technology, which currently represent about 50% of its OEM (original equipment manufacturer) business.
++++++++++++++++=
Macronix to delay mass production at No. 3 wafer foundry plant
Taipei, July 15, 2001 (CENS)--Due to the prolonged economic slump, Macronix International Co. said Sunday that the firm decided to delay mass production at its new 8-inch wafer foundry plant until July 1, 2002, four and half months behind schedule.
Macronix originally estimated that it would mass-produce at its No. 3 wafer plant in February 2002. This new plant will produce 40,000 units per month by using the latest 0.18 micron-based technologies.
Wu Ming-chiu, president, said that the installation of the No. 3 plant will be delayed mainly due to the slowing economy and the subsequent sluggish world semiconductor industry. The commencement date will now be suspended until July 2002, instead of next February, Wu said.
Presently, Macronix, a leading non-volatile memories and logic product maker in Taiwan, has set up three wafer foundry plants on the island. The first is a six-inch wafer foundry plant, which is now in a better position to produce 35,000 wafers per month, compared with 40,000 units from its No. 2 eight-inch plant.
In line with the delay, Macronix expects its capital expenditure will reach only NT$20 billion, down 30% from the NT$30 billion predicted previously, according to Wu.
Macronix raked in revenue of NT$5.18 billion in the second quarter, down 20% from the NT$6.4 billion predicted before. Due to the price cut in memory products, the firm posted revenue of only NT$1.56 billion in June, down 14% from May.
Orders from both the information appliance (IA) and consumer electronics industries will increase significantly beginning in the second half. The firm set a revenue target of NT$9.17 billion and NT$11.72 billion for the third and the fourth quarters, respectively |
