derek,
either get out of DRAM business or UPGRADE.
I thought you stated that well.
2 stories below.
09/26: Philips Signals Intent To Add Chip-Making Plant In Asia
MANILA -(Dow Jones)- Philips Electronics NV's semiconductor unit is
planning to set up a new chip plant in Asia and a wafer-fabrication
facility at a still-to-be-chosen site to meet growing demand from
electronics manufacturers.
The Dutch electronics giant's plans were revealed Friday by Arthur van
der Poel, chairman and chief executive of Philips Semiconductors.
Company officials were in Manila for meetings with the chip unit's work force from six semiconductor-assembly plants in the Asia-Pacific
region.
Van der Poel said the semiconductor plant may be located in any of the
Asian countries where Philips already operates, namely the Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, China, and South Korea.
Philips (PHG) has yet to decide where to set up the wafer-fabrication
plant. Wafers are thin pieces of silicon from which computer chips are
cut. Van der Poel said the facility could be located either in Asia or
North America.
Van der Poel said the average cost of developing a
semiconductor-assembly plant ranges from $200 million to $500 million,
depending on the extent of the facility's functions. "The financial
consequence of the proposed semiconductor assembly plant is now being
discussed by management for conclusion soon," he said.
The wafer-fabrication plant is estimated to cost $1 billion and may be
pursued through a joint venture with another company, Van der Poel said. He said Philips is in talks with potential partners for the
wafer-fabrication facility. He declined to identify these companies.
Walter Conrads, director of international marketing and sales of Philips Semiconductors, said the company expects growth in demand for
semiconductor products in the Asia-Pacific region to outpace that of
other major markets world-wide.
Philips estimated that the total semiconductor market in the
Asia-Pacific region will grow by 10.5% this year and 24% in 1998. In
Europe, the growth was pegged at 6.2% this year and 20% next year, while the U.S. market may be expected to expand by 8.6% this year and 21% in 1998.
Conrads said Phillips expects strong demand from the Asia-Pacific owing to the many global players which have established major production facilities in the region and the numerous local companies growing "very fast and serving the Asia-Pacific region."
Philips ranked fifth in terms of market share among semiconductor
manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific region, with sales totaling $1.47
billion last year, up by 31% from the year-earlier level. The ranking
gave Philips a 4.9% share of the total market in the region. In 1995,
Philips was in 10th place with total sales of $1.12 billion.
Copyright (c) 1997 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
***
09/26: Texas Instruments Forecasts 50% of Sales Coming From Asia
By Leslie Chang Staff Reporter
TAIPEI -(Dow Jones)- More than half of Texas Instruments Inc.'s sales
will come from Asia by shortly after the turn of the century, the
company's chairman told Dow Jones Friday.
On a visit to Taiwan, where the Dallas-based chipmaker has its Asian
headquarters, chairman James Adams made the prediction based on the
region's rapid growth. "We believe much of TI's growth in the future is based on the growth in Asia," said Adams, who was named chairman of
Texas Instruments (TXN) last June.
More than 20% of Texas Instruments' total sales come from Japan already, and another 20% from Asian markets outside Japan, Adams said. Asia sales "will pass 50% shortly after the turn of the century," he predicted. The company employs close to 12,000 people in nine countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
A key focus is China, as reflected in the company's hiring last month of Terry Cheng, who formerly headed the China unit of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HWP), to be in charge of the company's Asia operations. Texas
Instruments has two sales offices in China and a joint-venture plant in Jiangsu province that makes motor controllers, which prevent devices in consumer products from overheating.
In China, as elsewhere, Texas Instruments is planting the seeds for what it hopes to be widespread use of its digital signal processing, or DSP, technology. Digital signal processors are powerful microprocessors with a variety of uses in consumer electronics and personal-computers. Texas Instruments now runs courses in more than a dozen Chinese universities in this field, said Adams. It has also set up two laboratories to train Chinese engineers about DSP technology.
Copyright (c) 1997 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. |
