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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (31659)	7/28/1999 10:10:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

Taiwan's UMC expects fiscal year revenues to jump 59% with higher foundry prices A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc. Story posted 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m., PST, 7/28/99 By Bolaji Ojo Electronic Buyers' News SAN FRANCISCO -- Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) said it expects fiscal 1999 revenue to rise as much as 59% driven by the expanding Internet industry, rising consumer electronic sales, and higher PC unit sales, which have helped strengthened silicon foundry prices. Hsinchu-based UMC, the world's second largest pure-play silicon foundry company, said it expects to report 1999 sales of about $1.75 billion soon, compared with a revised figure of about $1.1 billion for the 1998 fiscal year. UMC, which has been reorganizing its operations to consolidate the management of its foundries, said it expects net income for 1999 and 2000 to rise between 40% and 50% over the 1998 period. "We are on track with current estimates," said Jim Kupec, president of United Microelectronics Corp., U.S.A., a subsidiary of the UMC Group, based in Silicon Valley. "Foundry prices have firmed since the end of 1998 and we are seeing strong growth across all sectors of our business." Kupec, who was addressing the BancBoston Robertson Stephens Semiconductor Conference in San Francisco today, said UMC has about $1.6 billion in cash, which the company expects to use to expand capacity to meet rising demand for its services. The company said its strong cash position means it does not have to borrow from the capital market to finance immediate expansion, though it expects to make a statement soon as to whether it will issue American Depositary Receipts by the end of this year. "We are spending a lot of money, as much as $1.3 billion this year, up from $1 billion last year," Kupec said. "Since capacity determines revenue we expect this to continue." 204.247.196.14

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (31659)	7/28/1999 10:41:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Atmel flash booked through year end By Ismini Scouras Electronic Buyers' News (07/28/99, 03:31:41 PM EDT) SAN FRANCISCO — A rise in demand from cellular phone and set-top box customers has cleared Atmel Corp.'s shelves of flash chips, according to B. Jeffrey Katz, the company's vice president of marketing. "We're booked out in flash through the year," Katz said, speaking here Wednesday (July 28) at the BancBoston Robertson Stephens Semiconductor Conference. And a tighter supply and demand balance is pushing flash prices upward, Katz said. The price of a 16-Mbit flash part, for example, has risen from between $3 and $4 at the beginning of the year to nearly $5.50. "It has been increasingly up, but not sudden," Katz said. "It started at the end of the first quarter and continued through the second quarter. "All of our products have been showing better pricing than six months ago," Katz said. Despite the company's shortage of flash chips, Atmel (San Jose, Calif.) said that it won't need to build a fabrication facility until 2002. In fact, the company's 1999 capital spending budget — pegged at $180 million — will be down from last year. In 2000, Atmel's capital expenditures will total approximately $200 million, Katz said. Whether the company will spend on additional acquisitions depends on which companies are in play, Katz said. In January, Atmel acquired the Smart Information Transfer (SIT) business of Motorola Inc.'s Semiconductor Products Sector, a move that enabled it to enter the smart-card IC business. A year ago, Atmel bought Data Communications Technologies (DCT), of Research Triangle Park, N.C. ebns.com