Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (37212)	9/11/2000 1:27:42 AM
From: Jeffrey D	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

KOREA ECONOMIC WEEKLY: INTEL LEADS LIST FOR FACILITY INVESTMENTS 99% match; The Korea Economic Daily ; 11-Sep-2000 12:00:00 am ; 146 words BY COUNTRY, US-BASED SEMICONDUCTOR PRODUCERS LED THE PACK World semiconductor giants are setting aside an increasing amount of money for facility investment, according to IC Insights Inc. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, IC Insights is a provider of market research and analysis reports and services for the semiconductor industry. The firm reported on August 28 that as many as 18 chipmakers each plan to spend more than $1 billion in facility investments this year, a 2-fold jump from 9 a year ago. Intel of the US leads the list, with planned expenditures of $6 billion in expansion of its chip factories in fiscal 2000, up 82 percent from the previous year. Following Intel are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) with $4.7 billion, STMicroelectronics with $3 billion, Texas Instruments with $2.7 billion and Samsung Electronics with $2.4 billion. share of investment to revenues with 34 percent, followed by Japan with 21 percent, Taiwan with 19 percent and Europe with 13 percent. Korea's share was ranked last, at 3 percent. Top-10 facility investment sum for fiscal 2000, preliminary (unit: $1 billion) Company Amount % Change (from previous year) Intel 6.0 82 TSMC 4.69 154 STMicroelectr. 3.0 123 Texas Instr. 2.7 125 Samsung Electronics 2.4 33 UMC 2.4 40 Motorola 2.3 49 Philips 2.0 202 NEC 1.96 49 Hitachi 1.9 47 (Source: IC Insights)

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (37212)	9/11/2000 1:29:31 AM
From: Jeffrey D	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Where have all the steppers gone? Jeff FT.COM SITE: COMPONENTS SHORTAGE DELAYS SALES 86% match; FT.com site ; 11-Sep-2000 12:00:00 am ; 569 words BY COUNTRY, US-BASED SEMICONDUCTOR PRODUCERS LED THE PACK IN TERMS OF THE A severe shortage of steppers - essential to the manufacture of chips - is holding up billions of dollars in semiconductor sales - which in turn is preventing the manufacture of huge amounts of electronics products. Orders for steppers, and the related scanners, are taking more than 15 months to arrive. Lead times are continuing to rise as chipmakers worldwide scramble to add record amounts of manufacturing capacity. Steppers and scanners form the 'heart' of any chipmaking facility, analysts said. They are used to etch the circuits on chips. At more than $8m apiece plus related support equipment, a typical $2bn chipmaking facility needs about 30 steppers and they account for as much as a third of the total cost. "Supplies are very tight right now and demand is very strong," said Netherlands-based ASML, the second-largest manufacturer of steppers and scanners. ASML declined to talk about lead times but said it could meet customer demand and is ramping up production. The shortage of this key chipmaking equipment, however, is helping the chip industry from adding too much production capacity too quickly, and risking a sooner-than-expected bust. "You could call it a blessing in disguise," said Donald Colvin, chief financial officer of Atmel, a leading US communications chipmaker. Some chip company analysts have expressed concerns in recent weeks about a possible weakening in the prices of some chips because of the record amount of spending on chipmaking facilities. An estimated $60bn is expected to be spent this year to build chip production facilities and expand existing sites. "The shortage of steppers means that you have to wait at least 15 months and then go through an additional qualification period before you can produce chips in volume," Mr Colvin said. Atmel is close to completing the purchase of an empty Siemens chip plant in North Tyneside. The shortage of steppers and scanners will take Atmel longer than it would like to modernise the facility and is likely to delay the hiring of more than 1,500 workers. At the beginning of this year, lead times for steppers were about nine months but this has steadily increased to almost 16 months and is not expected to decrease before the end of this year. The current chip shortage in flash memory, microprocessors and other components is hurting many companies worldwide. These range from toy manufacturers to cell phone companies. And chip prices for commodity products such as D-Ram memory have jumped recently and could affect PC prices. Chip companies are reaping the benefits of stable or higher prices. But delays in their efforts to boost production are hampering their opportunity to increase revenues. Craig Barrett, chief executive of Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, recently complained about the shortage of key chipmaking equipment at the Intel Developer Forum conference. Intel doubled its capital equipment budget this year from $3bn to $6bn because it had not been able to meet all customer demand. Demand for chips is likely to continue to be strong for at least a year, analysts said. Despite some concerns about slowing PC demand, PC sales are predicted to remain strong, growing about 18 per cent this year compared with last, reported International Data Corporation, a leading US market research company. Cell phone sales are expected to reach record levels this year. Although investment in additional chipmaking facilities is at an all-time high, the Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade group that represents chipmakers worldwide, noted the investments are relatively low compared with revenues. With the shortage of steppers and scanners, those capital investments are likely to take longer to boost production to levels that meet demand and thus result in possible chip price cuts. The SIA has predicted that the start of the bust part of a regular four-year boom-and-bust cycle would not affect the chip industry until 2003. Copyright © Financial Times group