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Technology Stocks : Micron Only Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DJBEINO who wrote (48029)	9/7/1999 9:35:00 AM
From: Thomas G. Busillo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 53903

DJ, it's an interesting story. Dow Jones looks to have done the best legwork so far: September 7, 1999 Dow Jones Newswires Fujitsu: In Talks With Micron, Infineon On DRAM Supply TOKYO -- Fujitsu Ltd. (FJTSY or 6702) confirmed Tuesday that it is holding talks with memory chip makers Micron Technology Inc. (MU) of the U.S. and Infineon Technologies AG, a semiconductor unit of Germany's Siemens AG (G.SIE), about the possibility of concluding new supplier deals for dynamic random access memory chips. No agreements have been signed yet, but Fujitsu has started an evaluation process of possible deals, a Fujitsu spokesman said. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported in a front-page article Tuesday morning that Micron and Infineon are set to sign long-term DRAM contracts to supply heavy users including Fujitsu and NEC Corp. (NIPNY or 6701). According to the newspaper, the entry of the two firms into the Japanese market means that foreign suppliers will likely capture about half of the domestic DRAM market, pushing Japanese producers to radically rethink their chip business strategies. Something that's already happened. An NEC spokesman said the newspaper report exaggerated the significance of possible talks between foreign suppliers and Japanese chipmakers. Supply agreements aren't an unusual occurrence in the industry, he said. NEC already has an agreement with Infineon, the spokesman said, but he couldn't confirm whether any talks on DRAM supply are being held with Micron. So regardless of whether or not they are in talks, the original was as innaccurate as could be in terming any arrangement an "entry" into the market. However, the story becomes a lot less sexy if it's merely Japanese box makers looking to secure additional supply v. "Micron and Infineon entering Japanese market", which the unnamed sources probably realized. A spokeswoman for Infineon also played down the report. She said Infineon, which will publicly list its shares on the Frankfurt and New York Stock Exchanges early next year, has a strong commitment to the Japanese market and plans to set up a subsidiary there soon. "But this is nothing out of the ordinary," she said. "Infineon is already represented in Japan through Siemens' subsidiaries," she said. "We will set up an independent subsidiary in Japan in the very near future, definitely by the end of the year," she said. Infineon will hold a press conference at the end of September in Japan to publicize its strategy for the region. "Then we will make known our sales goals (for Japan)," she said. She said she couldn't comment on a report Monday that said Infineon and Micron are expected to aim for combined annual sales of around Y50 billion by as early as 2001, with Micron achieving a 20% market share and Infineon 10%. Nor could she comment on reports of long-term supply agreements for dynamic random access memory chips. DRAMs are the main memory chips in personal computers. As well as making 64-megabit chips, Infineon has recently moved into production of the new-generation, 256-megabit DRAMs, the spokeswoman said. Ties between Siemens and Fujitsu have strengthened with the recent formation of a European computer joint venture that starts operating Oct. 1. The new Fujitsu Siemens Computers BV will automatically become the fifth largest computer manufacturer in the world in terms of unit sales. In other news, CNBC/Costello gave a quick mention of DRAM prices rising above $11. Didn't catch the whole morning, so no idea of how CNBC will manage to mangle this story. This seems tailor-made for Maria B.'s brand of pseudo-journalism. Good trading, Tom