Micron sees market shr gains if prices hold
By Andrew Hay
NEW YORK, Feb. 9 (Reuters) - Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE:MU),
its sales buoyed by strong demand for personal computers and
larger corporate systems, said Tuesday it expects to gain about
five additional percentage points of market share in the
computer memory chip market in fiscal 1999 as chip demand
outstrips supply.
The Boise, Idaho firm expects to take its share of the
computer memory chip market to as high as 25 percent by August,
when its 1999 year ends, Micron spokesman Kipp Bedard said
during a presentation to money managers at the annual Goldman
Sachs Technology Symposium here.
Micron's market share is around 18 percent, according to
industry estimates.
Micron sees itself gaining business as Korean competitors
such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KOREA:64050) . And rivals in
Japan, like NEC Corp (TOKYO:6701). and Toshiba Corp (TOKYO:6502). lose
market share, even as Taiwanese firms like Nanya and Winbond
stand to increase their share of the memory chip market.
"We're expecting around five percent market share
penetration this year," Bedard said, in an interview following
his talk to investors. Bedard said memory chip prices were
"stable" and had actually improved since the company's second
quarter ended in November.
"As an industry we're shipping what we're producing," he
said.
The company's optimistic outlook comes amid recent signs
the battered semiconductor industry may be in for brighter
days. After years of decline as over-capacity forced prices
lower and plants to close, the industry is poised for price
stability or even gains.
While Micron sees industry demand increasing 80 percent
during its 1999 fiscal year it sees industry supply of memory
chips increasing by only 60 percent to 70 percent, signaling a
favorable upturn.
Its computer memory chips provide the rapid recall behind a
huge range of electronics devices such as personal computers,
mobile phones and industrial control systems.
Micron, the only major U.S. memory chip maker remaining
after its 1998 acquisition of Texas Instruments Inc.'s Dynamic
Random Access Memory (DRAM) business. South Korean companies
hold 35 percent of the market followed by several in Japan with
under 30 percent, putting Micron at the head of the pack.
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), an industry
trade group sees demand for computer chips improving as cheaper
personal computers, mobile phones, digital cameras and other
new information devices stoke the need for more chips. |
