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

To: csmith who wrote (37148)	9/6/2000 8:04:23 AM
From: Lone Star	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Gosh, I sure hate to see Samsung, the Taiwanese companies, Atmel, Intel, Applied get hurt like they're going to. All they have to do is consult with JJ and the boys, they'd see the light. Why didn't we hear that the analyst houses actually " sent their people out into the field" to check first hand? Now thats commitment.

To: csmith who wrote (37148)	9/6/2000 9:09:16 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

Clark, Excellent news, great way to start the day:-) BK

To: csmith who wrote (37148)	9/6/2000 9:49:24 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Canada balks at Mosel Vitelic subsidies for 300-mm fab By Faith Hung Electronic Buyers' News (09/06/00, 08:33:46 AM EDT) HSINCHU, Taiwan- Mosel Vitelic Inc. is continuing talks with the Canadian government regarding a plan to build a 300-mm-wafer semiconductor fab in Quebec province, even after the country's officials balked at the company's requests for subsidies to finance the project. Mosel Vitelic, a Hsinchu-based DRAM manufacturer, is seeking $336 million in cash incentives from the Canadian government, another estimated $235 million to $269 million in tax breaks from the Quebec provincial government, and an equity investment by the Societe Generale de Financement, according tothe Montreal Gazette. However, the cost to entice Mosel Vitelic to build its plant near Montreal was deemed too expensive by Canadian Industry Minister John Manley, who rejected the request for federal incentives, the newspaper reported. "We'll continue to negotiate with the Canadian government," said Thomas Chang, a vice president at Mosel Vitelic, who declined to relate specific details of the project. But Mosel Vitelic's failure to finish building the fab by the end of August, as originally hoped, casts doubt on whether it will establish a North American manufacturing presence any time soon. "Few people in the industry are optimistic [about the Canada site], because the manufacturing costs and the quality of engineers there are inferior to those of Taiwan," said analyst James Wang, who tracks Taiwan's IC industry for International Securities Investment Trust Co. in Taipei. "The only advantage that would drive Mosel Vitelic to set up a factory in Canada is the subsidy incentives." The volatile nature of the semiconductor industry could have contributed to Canada's reluctance to make such a large investment, analysts said. It takes about two years to complete a 300-mm-wafer fab at a cost as high as $3 billion. If the Canadian government approves the project, the plant will face the risk of running into a demand slowdown by the time it enters the initial stages of operations, according to observers. "There are plenty of risks involved that the government has to take into account," Wang said. If the negotiations prove successful, Canada will host Mosel Vitelic's first overseas project, and one of the world's first 300-mm-wafer fabs. Using its most advanced process technology will enable the company to raise capacity and lower costs to meet strong DRAM demand, which many analysts predict will not abate until next year or 2002. Other companies planning to build 300-mm-wafer fabs include chip makers Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Infineon, and Intel, as well as silicon foundries Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), both based in Hsinchu. In the event it must look elsewhere to expand its capacity, Germany has also made Mosel Vitelic's evaluation short list. "Mosel Vitelic is talking to the Canadian government very sincerely at this stage," Chang said. "But we won't rule out other possibilities."