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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (35580)	7/1/2000 5:08:58 PM
From: FJB	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 70976

All eyes turn toward Southeast Asia Semiconductor equipment vendors must chart a new market course as pure-play foundries gain power and influence By Jeff Dorsch, illustration by Jennifer Thermes The winds of change are blowing across the Pacific Ocean for Applied Materials Inc. and the rest of the semiconductor capital equipment business—and they’re not coming from Japan. ... The equipment companies certainly love the business. But this dramatic shift in their customer base is posing some new challenges. The good news: Foundries want the latest and greatest equipment. The challenges: Foundry customers are demanding—they want their equipment up and running immediately, and they’re compressing the cycle times between adopting the next generation of equipment. They’re also very cost conscious. What’s more, just a few players now make up the majority of the market so they now have the market clout to be tough negotiators at the equipment deal-making table. Michael West, the head of new business development at SEZ AG of Villach, Austria, says pure-play foundry customers are “definitely different” from device makers. “They demand a lot more resources,” he says. “They expect us to show up with the process in hand. In the United States (with device makers), it’s ‘Let’s work together and work it out.’ In Southeast Asia, it’s show up, install and start.” ... Witt notes, “They have big, big plans in Tainan,” in southern Taiwan, where TSMC just opened its Fab 6—which it calls “the largest semiconductor production facility in the world”—in the Tainan Science-Based Industrial Park. “It will be bigger than Hsin-Chu,” the bustling base for most of Taiwan’s semiconductor companies, he notes. “The challenge is [the pure-play foundries are] getting very big, very quickly”—and that means a different power structure for semiconductor equipment suppliers. ... eb-mag.com

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (35580)	7/1/2000 7:21:05 PM
From: john dodson	Respond to of 70976

<OT> Anyone have any thoughts on investing in NVLS? I know AMAT is the 800 lb gorilla, which has done very well, but how about the 200 lb monkey -- NVLS. =-} They seem to be doing pretty well also. Thanks, John

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (35580)	7/3/2000 12:02:15 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 70976

Powerchip, Vanguard Advance to 0.18-Micron Production July 3, 2000 (TAIPEI) -- Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. and Vanguard International Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (ViS) are due to move into production of DRAMs based on 0.18-micron technology, and that is expected to strongly boost their total production volume and profits. Recently, Powerchip finished machinery installation in line with its capacity-expansion program. The company plans to start lifting its monthly DRAM capacity to 30,000 units as of July, of which more than 90 percent will be rolled out by the 0.18 micron-based manufacturing process. Powerchip estimates its monthly DRAM production volume at 17 million units in the fourth quarter, nearly doubling the current volume based on 0.25-micron technologies. The company's second-half profits also stand to double, as the cost of production using the 0.18-micron technology will be 40 percent lower than 0.25-micron technology production. In addition, the 0.18-micron technologies also promise more qualified DRAM and related products. Its counterpart, Vanguard, estimated its DRAM production volume on an OEM basis at 35,000 units in the second quarter, 55,000 units in the third quarter, and 70,000 units in the fourth quarter. Using 0.18-micron technology, the company expects its total monthly production volume to top 15 million units in the fourth quarter, and hopes to double its profits. Currently 16Mb DRAMs are Vanguard's core product. Both Powerchip and Vanguard have received DRAM manufacturing technologies from their Japanese partner, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (Commercial Times, Taiwan)