| |
To All,
on an otherwise crappy day for AMAT, here is some good news...
Headline: Asian Semiconductor Industry: September Sales Highest for Year to Date
Author: Richard C. Wei, 852-2869-3649
Company: 2311.TW 2337.TW 2342.TW 2329.TW 2325.TW 2338.TW 2330.TW 2303.TW 2344.TW A
STSF.O
Industry: SEMICO
Today's Date: 10/13/97
* September sales for Taiwan semiconductor companies were up 5% sequentially
and 29% year on year.
* Five Taiwan semiconductor companies posted their best monthly sales this
year.
* August sales for the worldwide semiconductor industry were up 14% year on
year and up 4% sequentially.
Taiwan semiconductor companies in aggregate reported sales for September that
were up 5% sequential and 29% year on year. Sales for the month represented
the fifth consecutive sequential monthly gain for this group of companies. We
expect sales in October to also be sequentially higher.
The three packaging companies, ASE (2311.TW, NT$145.50, 1-Buy), Orient
Semiconductor (2329.TW, NT$81, not rated), and Siliconware Precision (2325.TW,
NT$96, 3-Neutral), saw their combined sales rise 3% sequentially and 26% year
on year. ASE's sales in September, up 8% sequentially and 51% year on year,
were its highest monthly sales ever. We believe this should be positive for
ASE Test's Taiwan operation (ASTSF, 1-Buy, US$71 3/4), since a large
percentage of the chips tested by ASE Test in Kaohsiung are first packaged by
ASE in Kaohsiung.
Among the foundries, TSMC (2330.TW, NT$157, 3-Neutral) achieved the highest
monthly sales in the company's history, surpassing its record set in August.
UMC (2303.TW, NT$83.50, 3-Neutral) posted its highest monthly sales since
November 1996. Winbond Electronics (2344.TW, NT$57, 3-Neutral) achieved its
highest monthly sales since November 1995. We believe all three companies
should report successively higher monthly sales.
Mosel Vitelic (2342.TW, NT$54, 3-Neutral) reported its best monthly sales this
year. Macronix (2337.TW, NT$70.50, 3-Neutral) also reported its best monthly
sales since November 1996. In our recent conversation with the company, CFO
Paul Yeh told us that the company's new 8-inch fab has ramped up to 10,000
wafers a month and should reach 10,000-15,000 wafers a month by the end of
1997 and 25,000 wafers a month by the end of 1998. Logic and flash memory
products were the growth drivers in 2Q97 and represented 22% and 14% of
revenue, up from 15% and 9% respectively in 1Q97. Going forward, these two
segments should continue to see rapid expansion. The company should begin
volume shipment of microcontroller with embedded flash memory to Philips
(PHIL, 165 NLG, 3-Neutral) in 4Q97. |
|
