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 : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elmer who wrote (90681)	10/20/1999 12:40:00 PM
From: Jim McMannis	Respond to of 186894

RE:"Paul, your buy yesterday is looking pretty good!"... Unfortunately ones days action does not a market make... Looks like more bad news.. Courtesy John Koligman To: +Jim McMannis (69237 ) From: +John Koligman Wednesday, Oct 20 1999 12:34PM ET Reply # of 69238 From Dow Jones - update on the PC situation in Taiwan... John Dow Jones Newswires Taiwan Execs: Shortages Will Cut Into 4Q PC Production By MARK BOSLET (This story was originally published late Tuesday.) SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Parts shortages due to the Taiwan earthquake will keep computer companies from building all the machines they want during the important Christmas selling season, a Taiwan technology industry executive said. Acer Laboratories Inc. (Q.ACL) doesn't "believe PC companies will be able to ship all the machines they would like to this year," said Chief Operating Officer Hancy Hartsoch said Tuesday. "There's a definite nervousness about meeting demand." The biggest problem is a shortage of chipsets, which are used to link a computer's memory to its central processor or graphics chip, she said. Taipei-based Acer, for instance, will have delayed shipments of chipsets through late October or early November and will only catch up by the end of the year, Hartsoch said. Other Taiwanese chipset makers are even further behind. Hartsoch was one of more than a dozen Taiwanese executives to address earthquake-related concerns at a meeting with press here. Most said personal computer demand remains strong worldwide. But they also admitted to weeks of lost production tied to the powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake that hobbled the island on September 21. Already the tremor's impact is being felt in the U.S. On Monday, Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) joined the likes of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HWP) and Advanced Micro Design Inc. (AMD) by saying higher memory prices would cause it to fall short of Wall Street's third-quarter expectations. Some analysts expect another shoe to drop, perhaps during the next three to four critical weeks of pre-Christmas manufacturing. International Data Corp. analyst Mario Morales, in a report released Monday, said he expected at least 15% of fourth-quarter machines may not be built because of component shortages. "Clearly, there will be some supply impact from the earthquake," agreed Magnus Ryde, president of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) on Tuesday. The company, which makes a variety of semiconductors, some of which are used in chipsets, lost about three weeks of production, or about 80,000 wafers, Ryde said. Taiwanese competitor, United Microelectronics Corp., lost 10 to 12 days of production, echoed Auther Kuo, director. However, the executives said the earthquake hasn't derailed plans for expansion next year. TSMC said it expects its production capacity to increase from about 1.8 million wafers this year to 2.7 million next year, an increase of 50%. That will bring capital spending to $2 billion in 2000, compared with the $1.65 billion the company will spend this year to build or acquire capacity. The vast majority of the expansion will target logic chips used on PC boards, as graphics chips, in wireless communications products and computer networking gear, Ryde said. At present, TSMC is using just under 100% of its capacity, compared with capacity utilization in a percentage in the "low 70s" in 1998, he said. Even with the expansion next year, the company's foundries' operations should stay close to 100% because of industrywide undersupply, he said. UMC will make 1.7 million wafers in 1999, Kuo said. That should grow 41% to 2.4 million in 2000 and 25% to 3.0 million in 2001, he said.