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To: FJB who wrote (4038)	3/20/2000 11:54:00 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 5867

Hyundai seeks chip partner for Scottish fab shell, incoming president says By Jack Robertson Semiconductor Business News (03/20/00, 10:46:38 AM EDT) WASHINGTON -- Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. is talking with a potential semiconductor partner to open a chip plant in its fab shell in Scotland, according to president-designate Chong Sup Park. Park declined to identify the partner, and to say whether the resumed operation in Scotland is projected to be a full frontend fab or a backend chip plant only But the new Hyundai chief, in a phone interview from South Korea, said "a deal is only a few weeks away." He said plans for LG Semicon's shuttered fab shell in Wales "are not that far along." Hyundai acquired the shell last year in the merger of the two Korean chip operations. The London Guardian newspaper last week reported that Intel Corp. was discussing buying the Welsh fab shell. Park declined to discuss talks with any specific chip company. Craig Barrett, Intel's CEO, last week also said he never comments "on rumors and speculation." Park, formerly president of Hyundai Electronics America in San Jose, was selected last month to head the parent company in Korea. He is expected to be elected officially to the position early next month. He said in the interview that after reviewing Hyundai's quixotic flat-panel-display operations, which are slated to be divested, he decided to retain and expand the active-matrix LCD manufacturing division. Hyundai will seek an investment partner, probably an OEM customer, in its revitalized FPD operation. PC makers have been making investments in FPD suppliers to assure themselves of future panel supply. Most recently Apple Computer Inc. invested $100 million in Samsung Electronics Co. as part of a panel supply agreement. Park also wants to reduce his firm's dependence on DRAMs from the present 85% of chip sales to 60% in a few years. He said Hyundai, the largest global DRAM producer by unit volume, won't cut back on DRAMs, but will increase the sales of non-memory devices. "It's not good for any company to be so largely dependent on one type of product," he said. He said Hyundai is already significantly increasing sales of wireless telecom chips. The Korean chip maker also plans to boost its foundry work markedly. "We have 0.18-micron and 0.15-micron processes that can be of great value in the foundry market. We are moving quickly to 0.13-micron processing, so we will can offer foundry service at the leading edge of technology." Park felt Hyundai could compete aggressively against entrenched Taiwan foundries, because "many customers want second sources." Also as foundries face growing shortage of capacity, the Korean executive believed his firm's huge chip operations "give us a good opportunity to expand in this market. We have 300,000 wafer starts a month in all our fabs. That gives us a tremendous base for foundry work." Park said he would institute American-style financial management control systems in Hyundai Electronics. Jae Moon Hyun, a partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, has been named the new chief financial officer and chief information officer at the South Korean company. Park also said he want to restructure Hyundai Electronics to reduce the traditional management hierarchy and strict seniority-based employee evaluation system, which he believed "has plagued many large Asian companies." Hyundai has now started employee stock option and profit-sharing incentive plans.

To: FJB who wrote (4038)	3/20/2000 12:24:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5867

"The growth of semiconductors is well beyond what anyone can imagine" siliconinvestor.com The last time James Glickenhaus of Glickenhaus & Co. appeared in this column, he was bullish on the companies that were building the Internet's infrastructure and were the "bricks and mortar" of the Internet. Well, little has changed. Glickenhaus is still bullish on the Internet infrastructure theme and he still favors the following names, which include: Micron Technology (MU 113 3/8), Intel (INTC 125), Altera (ALTR 86) and Texas Instruments (TXN 160). "These companies will provide the infrastructure for whatever this technological revolution will bring," he says. "The growth of semiconductors is well beyond what anyone can imagine. The use of these devices is beyond comprehension. There is more DRAM in a Ford Taurus than there was in the vehicle that went to the moon... I don't think people understand how big this market can actually become." Glickenhaus notes that semiconductors companies will enable third-generation cell phones with sporting events, stock quotes and Internet services. "The stocks of these semiconductor companies (as mentioned above), have made huge moves," he says, "the growth is still there and that is why I still like these companies." "I think analysts are wrong now and earnings will be well beyond what they think" Glickenhaus adds that all Internet companies will use semiconductors. "One hundred years ago, you would have wanted to own Standard Oil and U.S. Steel. Those are the companies that have built the last industrial revolution. The semiconductor companies are building the next industrial revolution. If you think that semiconductors are the infrastructure of the technological revolution, you want to own them and not be scared because of the level they are at. The use of semiconductors will continue to expand."