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

To: C_Johnson who wrote (36108)	7/28/2000 12:46:34 PM
From: Math Junkie	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Carl, a couple of years ago, near the bottom of the 1998 slump, you posted a chart which I found extremely helpful, which showed year-on-year IC unit growth. Message 5340337 I was wondering if you have an updated version of this chart: infras.com (Amazingly, the link still works!)

To: C_Johnson who wrote (36108)	7/28/2000 2:16:13 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

<font color=Red>Atmel says flash market not cooling off Semiconductor Business News (07/28/00, 11:53:23 AM EDT) SAN JOSE--Atmel Corp. today officially launched its 64-megabit DataFlash memory chip, which is aimed at penetrating a range of portable system applications such as "smart" cellular phones, MP3 audio players, digital cameras, palmtop computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs). The new dual-interface chip architecture is also aimed at flash memory cards. Atmel claimed it had kept details about the DataFlash memory close to the vest, while preparing to introduce the 64-Mbit chip today. The introduction also comes at a time when questions are being raised about the immediate health of flash memory markets, because of concerns about growing production capacity and projections that some key applications may be slowing in growth. Statements from Finland's Nokia Group on Thursday caused investors to dump chip stocks because of worries about a slowdown in cellular phone growth, for example. But just prior to announcing the DataFlash chip this morning, Atmel issued a statement disputing forecasts for lower flash memory growth. "There have been many negative comments made concerning the health of the flash market," observed George Perlegos, president and chief executive officer of Atmel, today. "Atmel believes these comments are without serious analytical reflection and do not take into account the dynamics of this healthy and robust market. "We remain very confident that the 28% of our business that comes from flash will continue strongly, driven by increasing unit demand, transition to higher densities, and the rapidly growing numbers of applications that use flash technology," he added. Atmel's CEO said the recent "adjustments" in wireless telecommunications forecasts were anticipated in his company's guidance to financial analysts. Meanwhile, Atmel is pushing ahead with its DataFlash series, launching the AT45DB642 64-Mbit memory and planning follow-on products with 128- and 256-Mbit densities. The San Jose company said the DataFlash series will enable it to penetrate an entirely new market segment in which it has never participated in before. Atme said the DataFlash is the world's first dual-interface flash memory, combining dedicated serial and parallel interfaces into a single device. The dual-interface architecture permits the DataFlash to reside on two distinct system buses, allowing efficient interoperability between the memory chip and multiple processors and controllers. The company also said its DataFlash also offers unparalleled functionality with its uniquearchitecture of extremely small page sizes and dual internal SRAM buffers. According to Atmel, the DataFlash offers much of the same flexibility of an EEPROM while maintaining the cost advantages of the Flash memory. "Until now, we've kept quiet about the new 64-megabit DataFlash because it brings quite a bit to the market that our competitors simply can't match," said Richard De Caro, director of marketing for DataFlash. "We worked very closely with customers on defining the features and the architecture of the device, and it appears to have been a worthwhile effort as we have already secured several design wins with the 64-megabit DataFlash. "We have been sampling devices for the past two months to these customers, and they are ready to start volume production later this year," De Caro added. Atmel is producing the 64-Mbit DataFlash with 0.25-micron CMOS process and will transition to a 0.18-micron process in 2001. "The dual-interface of the DataFlash becomes very valuable because the parallel ports on the DSP [digital signal processor] need to be utilized for other functions, so the serial interface of the DataFlash off-loads the necessity of sharing parallel ports and reduces overall system overhead," De Caro said. He said the size of software drivers for DataFlash can be 25-to-40% smaller than those necessary for other flash devices. The chip is housedin a 40-pin TSOP and available in both commercial and industrial temperature ranges. The current generation is designed to operate from a single 2.7-volt power supply. The next-generation chip, fabricated with the 0.18-micron technology, will operate from a 1.8-V supply. In quantities of 1,000, the AT45DB642 sells for $28.80 each. Samples are available now.

To: C_Johnson who wrote (36108)	7/28/2000 9:02:39 PM
From: Jules B. Garfunkel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Hello Carl, So good to see you posting on SI again. Best regards, Jules

To: C_Johnson who wrote (36108)	7/28/2000 9:23:57 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Hello Carl, Good to hear from you again. From the CC's I listened to in both the semi and the equipment sectors, the only problem for the forseeable future for many of the companies is in meeting demand. With capacity constrained at many of the equipment companies, the additional capacity needed at companies like TSMC will not be coming on as soon as hoped for, possibly exxtending any chip shortage which already exists. Would you agree on this? Also, as an industry insider, what inning do you think we are in of the current cycle? I am inclined to think that the game is not even half over from what I hear from execs of the semi industry and looking at what will be needed for an internet buildout for several years. Your insight is always appreciated. Regards, Brian