they are teasing us-g-
Tue 21 Sep 2004
Firm fears growth has had its chips
ANNUAL growth in global semiconductor sales will probably fall by half in 2005 and memory chip sales growth could collapse as a supply glut saps prices, Samsung Electronics has warned.
Global semiconductor sales growth would come in slightly below ten per cent next year following estimated growth of 20 per cent this year, said Hwang Chang-gyu, the president of Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business.
Mr Hwang said semiconductor sales in the fourth quarter of 2004 would be similar to or slightly higher than sales in the third. He gave no specific figures.
"The pace of growth will definitely slow for memory chips, mainly due to increased supply," said Hwang, without giving separate figures.
He said Samsung’s memory chip sales in the third quarter would be higher than for the second quarter.
Memory chips in particular are in for a slowdown, Samsung said, with prices for flash memory set to fall as much as 40 per cent in the three months to September.
Kim Il-ung, who handles marketing for Samsung’s memory chip division, told reporters at a news conference that growth in the global memory chip market would slow to about five per cent in 2005 from estimated growth of 60 per cent this year.
In July, Samsung, the world’s top flat-screen maker, warned that it expected the prices of liquid crystal displays (LCD) to fall as much as 20 per cent by the end of the year as supply problems decrease.
It gave the warning as it launched a joint venture with Japan’s Sony in central South Korea to make LCDs for televisions and computers.
The joint venture added to a surge in new production, pushing down screen prices.
Meanwhile, Samsung competitor Hynix is being investigated for alleged accounting fraud and could face a fine.
This article:
business.scotsman.com |
