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To: DJBEINO who wrote (8520)	9/22/2000 9:00:49 AM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 9582

Don't panic on Intel say Euro tech firms, analysts (UPDATE: Updates throughout) By Lucas van Grinsven, European technology correspondent LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - European technology shares were hammered on Friday after microchip giant Intel (NasdaqNM:INTC - news) blamed weak European demand for a cut in its third-quarter revenue forecast, but companies and analysts said they saw no slowdown in PC sales. ``We don't see a reversal in PC sales'', said semiconductor analyst Nicolas Gaudois at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Market research group IDC said preliminary data showed that PC unit sales in Western Europe would grow by some 14.5 percent in the third quarter, a big improvement over the respective 8.1 percent and 7.2 percent growth rates seen in the first and second quarters. ``The fourth quarter is going to be strong also, with 19 percent growth,'' said IDC industry analyst Andy Brown. Most of that growth would come from consumers who want faster PCs to play digital video disc (dvd) games and benefit from high speed Internet access. BUSINESSES SLOW TO BUY NEW COMPUTERS But corporate demand remained slack as companies saw few incentives to invest in new computers after the upgrades ahead of the millennium change. ``We're getting slightly conflicting signals,'' Brown said. ``There is some uncertainty whether the business market is picking up.'' This was underpinned by Asian-European computer maker Fujitsu Siemens which told Reuters on Friday that consumer demand was growing strongly, while it did not expect the corporate market to strengthen in the fourth quarter. Siemens was down 5.6 percent at 149.84 euros at 1145 GMT. However, Dell Computer Corp. remained bullish. The world's number two PC maker, which was off more than 10 percent in U.S. after hours trading at $33-11/16, said it was still expecting a recovery in European corporate demand for its computers. Compaq Europe , a unit of the world's largest PC maker, was not immediately available for comment. IBM Europe would not comment ahead of its third quarter results announcement next month. EUROPEAN SEMICONDUCTORS COMPANIES HIT Worries over PC demand also hit the European semiconductor industry, although most of them focus on making chips for consumer products such as cars, mobile phones and CD-players, rather than computers. ST Microelectronics, the French-Italian semiconductor maker which fell 5.4 percent to 57.70 euros, was not immediately available to comment, but analysts say only 20 percent of its business is related to the PC industry for which it makes hard disk drive semiconductors. Philips Semiconductors, a unit of Netherlands-based Philips Electronics whose shares lost seven percent to 48 euros, said it was not exposed to PC sales. ``We're not in memory chips, so whatever Intel is saying, has little impact on us,'' a spokeswoman said. Even Europe's largest computer memory chip (DRAM) maker Infineon , down 6.7 percent at 54.60 euros, would hardly feel the impact of a few slow summer weeks in the way Intel did. As a mark of its confidence Morgan Stanley raised its 2000 earnings forecast for Infineon by 4 pct on Thursday. Recent weakness in DRAM prices on the world spot markets was the result of inventory selling, not slowing demand, it added. Siemens, the parent company of the German DRAM maker said on Friday its unit was in ``excellent'' condition. Infineon's Chief Executive Ulrich Schumacher reiterated that fourth quarter profits were expected to be higher than in the third quarter. NORDIC MOBILE Intel's announcement, saying it sees third quarter sales rising only between three and five percent, also dragged down tech companies which are entirely unrelated to the PC industry. Nordic mobile phone companies Nokia and Ericsson and French telecoms infrastructure to handsets maker Alcatel , all shed between three and five percent of their stock market value. Investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Benson on Thursday warned that handset suppliers were heading for modest 20 percent year-on-year revenue growth in the fourth quarter, after having enjoyed growth in excess of 30 percent. But Philips Semiconductors, which is one of the major suppliers to the mobile phone industry, said there were no signs of weakening. ``Demand continues to be strong,'' its spokeswoman said. biz.yahoo.com

To: DJBEINO who wrote (8520)	9/22/2000 9:03:52 AM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 9582

STM sees 2000 global chip mkt at $210 bln PARIS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Franco-Italian chip maker STMicroelectronics said on Friday the global semiconductor chip market could grow 37-40 percent in 2000 and more than 30 percent in 2001, playing down fears that growth may have peaked. STM's chief economist Jean-Philippe Dauvin said the global chip market could total $205-210 billion this year, revising up his earlier forecast of $200 billion, with the strongest demand for chips seen in computer memories, telecoms and consumer electronics. ``We said in July the market could grow 34 percent this year, we're now upgrading that to 37-40 percent growth. And for 2001 I would not be surprised to see growth above 30 percent,'' Dauvin told Reuters. ``I don't see any signals pushing the market down. The cycle is far from its end,'' he added. Global tech stocks were hammered on Friday after Intel cut its third-quarter sales forecast, citing weak European demand for its microprocessors. Dauvin said he saw the microprocessor chip market, Intel's main business, growing 18-20 percent this year, but the DRAM computer memory chip market, where STM reaps much of its revenue, growing by 50 percent. He said demand remained strong in STM's other core markets -- telecoms and household electronics, and forecast 55-60 percent growth in the chip market for the telecoms sector and 100 percent growth in the DVD (digital video disc) market. He gave a forecast of 120-140 percent market growth for flash memory chips, a key component in mobile phones, down slightly from an earlier forecast of 160 percent growth. Dauvin declined to comment on STM's third quarter performance, due to be reported on October 18, saying only that STM had seen no reason to change a forecast given in July for 5-10 percent sales growth in the third quarter. biz.yahoo.com