Taiwan DRAM makers break string of losses
By Faith Hung
EBN
(04/23/02 13:10 p.m. EST)
siliconstrategies.com
HSINCHU, Taiwan -- Two of Taiwan's largest memory chip manufacturers returned to profitability in the first quarter as demand recovered from the industry's worst downturn last year. Winbond Electronics Corp. said today that its net income in the three months to March totaled US$4.2 million, ending losses in the previous four quarters. Winbond is planning to invest $200 million in capex this year, most of which will be spent in R&D to develop 0.11-micron process technology with Infineon Technologies AG, a Winbond executive told investors in a conference held in Taipei.
Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. meanwhile, posted net income of $17.5 million, following losses in the last three straight quarters. Sales hit $108.9 million, representing a 121% growth increase during the same period.
Average selling prices of commodity DRAM (dynamic random access memory) “grew by 169% over last quarter as the DRAM prices began to stabilize,” said Michael Tsai, president of Powerchip, Hsinchu, Taiwan. Profits of the companies underscore that the global DRAM market has picked up after product prices surged to more than $4 from about $1 in the last quarter of 2001. Samsung Electronics, one of the world's top two players, has booked record profits of $1.4 billion in the March quarter. Taiwan's Nanya Technology Corp. also said recently that it had $42.9 million in profits during the same period amid increased orders from customers like Dell Computer Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp. |
