UMC (2303)closed @38.90 +0.3 vol 36,993,210
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August 15 net purchase 10,588,000 shares
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TAIWAN WEIGHTED closed @ 4638.36 -48.97 (-1.04%)
Day's Range :4626.84 - 4715.20
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The maker of the Dynabook and Libretto laptop computers will cut production of DRAMs by a quarter this month. Though the company will close a production line at one of its plants in Japan, analysts say more drastic measures may be needed.
``Toshiba needs to focus only on DRAMs for Sony's PlayStation 2'' and withdraw from memory chips for computers, said Ryoji Yamawaki, an analyst with Shinko Securities Co., who rates the shares ``neutral.'' ``In that case, they should definitely cut workers.''
Alliances
To cope with lower prices, Toshiba may ally with foreign rivals to share DRAM development costs, Nakagawa said, without specifying possible candidates. However, Toshiba ``is not interested in teaming with Japanese companies,'' he said.
Toshiba is currently developing memory chips for mobile phones with Infineon Technologies, the fourth-biggest DRAM maker. Toshiba, the sixth-biggest, doesn't have alliances with Samsung Electronics Co., Micron or Hynix, the three biggest DRAM makers respectively. The three companies account for 62 percent of global DRAM revenue.
Toshiba's system chips, microchips that combine memory and processor functions onto a single piece of silicon, will lose money in the six months ending Sept. 30 because of slumping demand for digital consumer electronics, Nakagawa said. |
