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

To: Tony Viola who wrote (31766)	8/8/1999 10:52:00 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 70976

-- DJ Japan Silicon Wafer Makers Plan 10% Price Hike - Nikkei -- TOKYO (Nikkei)--Japanese silicon wafer producers plan to raise domestic shipment prices by around 10% from October - the first rise in three-and-a-half years, according to the Sunday morning edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei). The newspaper said rising demand from makers of personal computers and cellular phones was behind the decision to lift prices. Shin-Etsu Handotai Co., Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. (5405 or J.SMM), Mitsubishi Materials Silicon Corp. and other major companies will soon start price negotiations with semiconductor producers. Demand has increased since the spring. Monthly global demand for 200mm silicon wafers, the main product, reached a record 3.3 million units in June, 32% more than the monthly average for 1998, industry officials said. The wafer's price has fallen 30% in the past three years, to around Y10,000 per unit, amid softening semiconductor markets. Japanese producers have a 60% share of the silicon wafer market, the Nikkei said. But recent restructuring has left few opportunities to increase production. The market will likely further tighten in the fall as demand usually increases ahead of the Christmas shopping season. (END) DOW JONES NEWS 08-07-99 08:57 PM- - 08 57 PM EDT 08-07-99 Source DJ - Dow Jones Categories: I/SEM SUB/DJN N/DJN SUB/DJWI N/DJWI SUB/NIK N/NIK SUB/NJR N/NJR SUB/NKR N/NKR SUB/PRC N/PRC SUB/PRSS N/PRSS M/NND M/TEC P/DAA P/DCO P/DSE GEO/ASI R/ASI GEO/FE R/FE GEO/JP R/JP GEO/PRM R/PRM

To: Tony Viola who wrote (31766)	8/9/1999 11:28:00 AM
From: Robert O	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Right. And here's Top IRS Dog's spiel (I know, they're ALL dogs): IRS is following the same strategy as any old, large company with inadequate internal resources: hire one of the world's largest (50,000+ consultants) CSC. Helps when their massive fee can be forwarded, then prorated amongst the general taxpaying public with the technical knowledge of the typical Yankee fan, sans fanfare. Commissioner: IRS Over The Y2K Hump John Moore, ZDNet The Internal Revenue Service has put the "biggest part of the most serious risk" behind it as the agency nears the final testing stage of its Year 2000 remediation effort, according to IRS commissioner Charles Rossotti. Rossotti, who spoke Thursday at the National Press Club, said testing of converted systems is underway and that the last phase of testing is slated to begin Oct. 1. The "tax system will continue as the century changes," he said. By the time it wraps up the conversion, the IRS will have spent nearly $1 billion in bringing its systems into Year 2000 compliance. That kind of investment, however, has prevented the agency from replacing computer systems that date to the mid 1960s. "In recent years we haven't implemented any new systems, as we consumed most of our technology resources fixing the Y2K problem," Rossotti said. 'Accelerated' Progress In 2001/2002 But Rossotti predicted that in 2001 and 2002 the IRS should experience an accelerated rate of progress. The agency already is establishing a long-term plan for replacing its antiquated computers. Much of that work will fall under the IRS' Prime Alliance contract, which was awarded to Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE:CSC - news) late last year. Rossotti calls the upgrade "the biggest, toughest computer business systems replacement project that I have ever seen." But Rossotti is no stranger to managing systems integration tasks; he was a top executive at integrator American Management Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:AMSY - news) prior to joining the IRS in November 1997.