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Strategies & Market Trends : Electronic Contract Manufacture (ECM) Sector -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Michael H who wrote (2474)	12/5/2000 7:51:23 PM
From: puborectalis	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2542

DRAM Makers Poised to Enter IC Contract Manufacturing Market November 30, 2000 (TAIPEI) -- DRAM makers in Taiwan and Korea intend to allocate half of their production capacities to IC contract manufacturing and application-specific integrated circuits in the coming year, so as to bypass the risk of placing their focus only on one product. The entries of Taiwan's top five DRAM makers -- Winbond Electronics Corp, Nanya Technology Corp., Mosel Vitelic Inc., Vanguard International Semiconductor Co., Ltd. and Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. -- and the entries of Korean DRAM powerhouses, such as Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd. and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., are expected to bring the IC contract manufacturing market an additional capacity of 4.8 million pieces every year, equivalent to the annual capacity presently possessed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and half the capacity of United Microelectronics Corp. The decision by DRAM manufacturers to move into the IC contract manufacturing market has posed some threats to IC contract manufacturers such as Taiwan's TSMC and UMC, and Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd., which has just faced a downgrade by several leading investment agencies due to the run-down in market demand. However, TSMC and UMC are not worried about the capacity restructuring projects of DRAM makers, although these DRAM producers are believed to provide a 0.175-micron service, just as TMC and UMC have in their main manufacturing process. According to executives of TSMC and UMC, DRAM companies will not be able to move into the IC contract manufacturing business immediately, because it will take too long and need more resources than they originally expected. The capacity diversification is expected to take up at least six months, and these companies will eventually find several restrictions in extending their reach into the IC contract manufacturing market, the executives said. (Commercial Times, Taiwan)