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

To: nolimitz who wrote (52098)	11/8/2000 2:12:32 PM
From: Dan Spillane	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 53903

You guys seem nervous that the spot prices for the obsolete 64MB DRAM are driving down the Micron stock price, when indeed much higher density chips are going out as we speak... Why so nervous about the forward-looking view?

To: nolimitz who wrote (52098)	11/9/2000 6:39:54 AM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 53903

Taiwan's Chip Giants Abandon RDRAM Contract Manufacturing November 9, 2000 (TAIPEI) -- Winbond Electronics Corp., Promos Technologies Inc. and Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., three leading local DRAM makers, have decided to pull out of the production of Rambus DRAMs, saying future prospects of the RDRAM market are very doubtful. Winbond's top executive confirmed on Nov. 5 that plans to manufacture RDRAMs will be indefinitely postponed, as the demand from Toshiba Corp. is on the wane, and the take-up of Sony's PS2 game machine has so far been lukewarm. Winbond previously planned to start RDRAM contract manufacturing in its 8-inch wafer fab plant in September, and to make its first shipments at the end of the year. However, the murky outlook of the RDRAM market has forced the company to reconsider its production policy. Local DRAM makers have decided to opt out of RDRAM production not only because of the run down in the demand from Toshiba and Sony, but also because double data rate memory looks like it will take the lion's share of the market before long. The executive said DDR memory was expanding its market share faster than expected. Its success now threatens the development of RDRAM, because Intel has decided to support non-RDRAM memory and has debutted new integrated chipsets code-named Brookdale for the Pentium 4 and code-named Almador for the Pentium III. The only way to escape this threat, local companies appear to believe, is to withdraw from RDRAM production altogether. Judging from their decisions, Winbond, Promos and Powerchip seem to have realized that money spent on obtaining production licenses from US-based Rambus Inc. and Japanese Toshiba would just be thrown down the drain. The struggle between DDR and RDRAM to become the dominant standard in the global chip market emerged in the first half of this year in Taiwan, where both chip standards have their own supporters. In the wake of the decisions by Winbond, Promos and Powerchip to put their rivalry behind them and move forward into the DDR camp, it is no longer difficult to guess which chip standard is likely to win. nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com ++++++++++++++++ Chip Makers Expand Non-Memory Business Korea's Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) is to invest US$22.3 million by 2003 to develop non-memory semiconductor technologies and train engineers. The Korean government plans to secure system IC-based technologies with a US$238 million investment in the non-memory sector including microprocessor core technologies. It will also invest US$54 million for training co-operation with IDEC (IC Design Education Center). Top domestic semiconductor manufacturers including Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Electronics and Anam Semiconductor are strengthening non-memory business to reduce the risk in the current memory-concentrated production structure. Samsung, within its 21st Semiconductor Business Vision, expects revenue of non-memory sector to shift from US$1.7 billion this year to US$5 billion a year by 2005 with a big investment in system IC business. In conjunction with this, Samsung said, it will invest US$5.12 billion in the production line 10 that it started in August. Samsung will also start construction of the new production line 11 and the first dedicated production line for non-memory semiconductor chips. Hyundai's Long-Term Business Vision and Strategy dictates a major investment in five non-memory businesses such as LCD (liquid crystal display), driver chips and chips for digital electric home appliances as well as IT equipment. By strengthening its foundry business, the company intends to be the third-biggest foundry company in the world within three years due to soaring demand in the industry. Anam Semiconductor turned into a foundry company after successfully abandoning the work-out in late July, which included selling its packaging business unit. To meet the increasing demand, the company has been expanding the production in its Fab 1 from 20,000 wafers (8-inch) a month early this year to 30,000 units a month by the end of the year. Another new Fab establishment plan is now being considered, Anam said. With the expansion of non-memory business from domestic manufacturers, the Korean semiconductor structure is expected to improve. DRAM business is currently taking almost 74% in the Korean semiconductor industry. Investment Grows Lately, in spite of diverse disputes on semiconductor business, most experts forecast that Korea's semiconductor business will achieve steady growth by 2002. According to Dataquest, a market research company, DRAM business is the leading export of Korea's semiconductor industry and will continue to grow over the next three years due to demand increase and supply shortage. IDC forecasts that the foundry business market will finally reach US$36.3 billion in 2004 with 36% AAGR (average annual growth rate). Motorola plans to outsource 50% of its entire production with Toshiba ready to outsource 20-30% of its production in the near future. Judging from the projected forecast, domestic manufacturers are moving quickly to foundry business to meet the increasing demand, industry experts said. The Korean government is planning diverse policies for strengthening the country's semiconductor industry. To establish an industrial base for efficient non-memory chip design, it is working on a database and e-commerce system for semiconductor design technology IP (intellectual property). For this IPDB establishment business, KETI (Korea Electronics Technology Institute) will invest US$3.7 million. The government will invest US$3.4 million. nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com

To: nolimitz who wrote (52098)	11/15/2000 1:41:56 AM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 53903

Infineon says memory chips unit will become smaller LONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Germany's chips manufacturer Infineon said on Tuesday its memory chips unit should become so small compared with the rest of its business that wild price swings would no longer unnerve investors. The company, Europe's No. 1 semiconductor maker and the world's No. 8, previously said it aims to have around 30 percent of its production capacity into DRAM memory chips. But its chief executive, Ulrich Schumacher, told Reuters in an interview that it could be less than that. ``It should not be bigger than 30 percent, but we haven't defined a minimum level,'' he said in an interview. He indicated the number could be much lower than 30 percent. ``The fluctuations in our DRAM business should have such a small impact (on Infineon's earnings) that they no longer scare investors,'' he added. Infineon, which published full-year results last week, is widely perceived as a DRAM manufacturer. Almost half of its full year sales were generated by DRAM chips, and 81 percent of EBIT profit. It was mostly the high prices for computer memory chips that caused this, because only a little over 30 percent of its manufacturing capacity is DRAM-related. Schumacher said that DRAM capacity would fall to 30 percent within the next 12 months, part of a programme to limit the impact of this volatile business. biz.yahoo.com