DOW JONES 90-DAY NEWS/RETRIEVAL Int'l News & Research Services
Sequence Number : 1071 Story Date : 98/02/12
2 07:16 T =Taiwan/TI-Acer/Stake -2: TI Seen Reducing DRAM Exposure
As part of the current talks, TI and Acer are also discussing the possibility
that TI-Acer would no longer focus making on DRAM chips exclusively for TI, and
would enter new product lines, Huang said.
Eric Wang, a technology analyst at Hong Kong-based Clarion Securities, said
diversifying its product mix would be a good move for TI-Acer, which is wholly
dependent on DRAM for profit. A reduced role for TI might also allow the
company to add new customers and develop new sources of technology, he said.
For TI, the negotiations may lead to further reductions in investment
exposure to DRAM products. 'TI wants to reduce their investment in DRAM,
there's no doubt,' said an executive familiar with the talks.
TI's office in Taipei said it couldn't immediately comment on the talks.
TI-Acer's unexpected loss last year contrasts with its success during the
first half of the 1990s when the company thrived on rising demand for memory
chips and was a cash cow for Acer Inc.
Net profit at TI-Acer, founded in 1990, peaked in 1995 when the company
earned NT$6.5 billion. Confident about TI-Acer's future, TI in 1996 exercised
an option to raise its stake in the company to 33% from 26%.
Yet profits at the company begin to fall later. In 1996, TI-Acer earned NT$1
billion as global DRAM prices declined amid an increase in supplies.
TI-Acer isn't the only specialized Taiwan DRAM maker to look to add new
products to its mix to boost profit. Vanguard International Semiconductor
Corp., a 27%-owned affiliate of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM),
has raised production of SGRAM, or synchronous graphics RAM, used with its 3-D
technology and video applications, to nearly 10% of its total in the past year.
Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., another specialized DRAM maker, which is 13%
owned by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (J.MBE), plans to start making other types
of chips this year.
-Russell Flannery; 8862-502-2557
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 02-12-98
07:16 AM
|
