Global chip plant use rate rises to 92 pct in Oct-Dec
Tue Mar 4, 2008 12:59am EST
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TOKYO, March 4 (Reuters) - The utilisation rate of semiconductor plants worldwide inched up for the fourth straight quarter in October-December on demand for advanced memory chips and microprocessors used in lighter, thinner or smaller electronics.
The utilisation rate was 92.0 percent in the quarter, up from a revised 91.2 percent in July-September, the Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics (SICAS) group said on Tuesday.
The industry group comprises 41 major chipmakers including Intel Corp (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research), Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) and Texas Instruments Inc (TXN.N: Quote, Profile, Research).
Utilisation rates above 90 percent can encourage chipmakers to build new production lines and factories, which could be good news for suppliers of microchip-making equipment such as Applied Materials Inc (AMAT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Tokyo Electron Ltd (8035.T: Quote, Profile, Research).
Capacity for all integrated circuits rose to 3.16 million silicon wafer starts per week in October-December from 3.11 million per week in the previous quarter, SICAS said.
Actual wafer starts, which reflect demand for chips, amounted to 2.90 million a week, compared with 2.84 million the previous quarter.
A wafer start is a lengthy process in which chip circuits are etched onto silicon wafers. (Reporting by Mayumi Negishi) |
