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Technology Stocks : Micron Only Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IceShark who wrote (51719)	8/23/2000 2:15:09 AM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 53903

DRAM Production Up 61 Pct., But Tight Supplies Will Continue August 23, 2000 (TOKYO) -- A serious shortage of DRAMs will continue until the end of 2001, according to a survey conducted by Nikkei Market Access. The production of DRAMs will amount to 235 peta-bits (peta is the fifteenth power of 10) in 2000, up 61 percent from the previous year, and 340 peta-bits in 2001, up 45 percent from the previous year. A primary reason for the slow growth of DRAM production is deterrents to investment in production lines. There are only three new DRAM lines to be started in 2000, by Nan Ya Technology Corp. of Taiwan in the first quarter, and by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd. of Korea in the latter half of this year. More than 10 production lines will go on line from 2000 to 2001 in Japan, but not all of them are intended for DRAMs. Existing lines had been increasing production through downsizing the chip size. In 1996, when 16Mb DRAMs were the main products, Micron Technology Inc. of the United States made inroads into the markets with downsized chips, intensifying the shrink-size competition. Recently, however, the race for shrink-size products has been scaled down. Looking at the pace at which downsizing occurs, more DRAM manufacturers could have run a production line for a 0.18 micron design rule, but as of now, such lines are in operation only at Micron and Hitachi Ltd. With the shrink-size slowdown today, lines based on a 0.15-micron rule are expected to be dominant only after 2002. nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com

To: IceShark who wrote (51719)	8/23/2000 9:51:36 AM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 53903

d.l.j. saying that there is an unexpected surge in -- surge in demand and micron is saying that p.c. makers are coming to us and there is a demand tveyes.com

To: IceShark who wrote (51719)	8/28/2000 9:41:43 AM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 53903

Taiwan analysts see chip boom peaking in 2003 TAIPEI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Taiwan technology research firm Topology Research said on Monday it expected new sources of demand from communications and personal electronics to drive the current semiconductor boom until early 2003. ``Topology can boldly estimate that even though this wave of the semiconductor cycle shows signs of slower growth, it can last until the first half of 2003 if there are no unexpected factors,'' said researcher Vincent Chen. ``Even assuming the worst, it will not end before the second half of 2002, which is broadly what the market expects,'' he told reporters at a briefing. ``No matter if you are talking about communications, PDAs (personal digital assistants) or IAs (Information appliances), there will be a lot of new demand coming out,'' Chen said. Many analysts say a tide of new capacity will cut chip prices as firms switch production lines to use 12-inch silicon wafers from eight-inch ones, so as to yield more chips per wafer. But Chen said the shift to new technology will be slower than expected. He said the new plants were facing a shortage of chipmaking equipment, and the world's only 12-inch facility in mass production -- Infineon's Dresden plant -- had not worked out all the kinks in the new technology. Chen nonetheless said the chip cycle would become less predictable as more and more silicon finds its way into consumer gadgets rather than personal computers, which benefit from relatively stable corporate orders. Downturns in semiconductor cycles were also likely to shorten as more chipmakers gain flexibility by outsourcing production to foundry firms, and shift the risk of building new capacity, Chen said. ``This will make things rather tiring for foundries but the cycle will bottom out faster,'' he added. However, growing orders from firms such as Motorola (NYSE:MOT - news), which traditionally both designs and makes semiconductors, were likely to fuel another 15 years of growth before the foundry sector became mature, he said. Chen predicted foundries could eventually account for 50 percent of world microchip output. The world's two largest chip foundries, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and United Microelectronics are both based in Taiwan. biz.yahoo.com