To: dougSF30 who wrote (117723 ) 6/26/2000 4:36:00 PM From: AK2004 Respond to of 1576336
amd is going to double flash bit production every year for the next 4 years 10:33am EDT 26-Jun-00 Salomon Smith Barney (Jonathan Joseph .............................. Flash market seeing better availability. Flash is another market that appears to be loosening up some, which is supported by reports from spot market brokers, cellular equipment makers, and motherboard assemblers. Overall, demand for Flash remains extraordinarily strong, driven by rapidly growth in markets as diverse as PC BIOS, cellular handsets, PDAs, digital cameras, MP3 players, and even networking. And prices remain firm, though reasonably volatile. We have seen high-density 32Mb Flash prices, which passed $200 in the spot market in recent weeks, fall back last week to about $182. Meanwhile, prices for 1Mb and 2Mb Flash, used in cellular phones, among other applications, tightened up slightly. Most Flash manufacturers continue to see no letup in the supply/demand imbalance. Advanced Micro# (AMD--$87.63; 1S), for example, is sold out until next year. Shipments should increase in the high single-digits this quarter, accelerating to double-digits over the next two quarters. The company is expanding its bit output by about 70% this year, then 100% each year for the next 3 years. Despite the strong demand, the big price moves over the last 12 months, management believes, are now over, with an outlook for stable pricing going forward. AMD believes its own average prices could rise slightly due to higher densities. Business conditions remain very strong at Silicon Storage# (SSTI--$108.25; 1S), as well. .........................................