Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Rambus (RMBS) - Eagle or Penguin -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Walliker who wrote (24608)	7/13/1999 6:15:00 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93625

SEOUL, July 13 (Reuters) - Brisk demand should offset falling chip prices and enable South Korea's semiconductor exports to exceed the targeted $18.2 billion this year, a senior Korea Semiconductor Industry Association official said on Tuesday. Choi Hye-bum, chief of the association's research division, told Reuters in a telephone interview that this year's semiconductor exports, including those by assembling firms, were expected to reach $19 billion, against $17.02 billion last year. ''DRAM prices have fallen rapidly but demand was also growing sharply, along with shipments by our makers,'' he said. Of the total exports, fabrication chips would account for $8.7 billion, up from $7.02 billion last year, he said. ''In the past, falling prices led to a sharp drop in export value, but this year demand and shipments are growing at a similar pace, keeping the export value rising,'' Choi said. South Korean firms account for nearly 40 percent of the global sales of the dynamic random access memories or DRAMs, a key component for personal computers. The unit spot price for the current mainstay 64-megabit DRAMs had fallen to about $4.80 in June from around $10.40 at the beginning of this year, he noted. DRAMs make up about half of the local semiconductor industry's exports. He said the global DRAM market was expected to show a balance between supply and demand in the first half of next year and then a shortage in supply in the second half. He gave no forecast for the country's exports in 2000. Choi said next year's world DRAM demand would be helped by the increasing use of the Internet and growing demand for Rambus DRAMs, so called because they use processing technology developed by Rambus Inc. Despite the growing demand, he said prices would not likely rebound sharply from the current level because major makers would increase supplies, even without any fresh expansion in plants and equipment, due to improving productivity. Choi said each of the two South Korean chipmakers was expected to expand its share in the world DRAM market to more than 20 percent from next year onward. Samsung Electronics Co accounted for 18.6 percent of the world DRAM market in 1998, Hyundai Electronics Industries Co took 11.4 percent and LG Semicon Co 7.9 percent. Hyundai has recently acquired LG and is integrating the semiconductor manufacturing operations of both companies. 05:56 07-13-99