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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (45773)	4/23/2001 8:51:08 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Winbond Locates First 12-Inch Wafer Plant in Taiwan April 23, 2001 (TAIPEI) -- In response to the government's pleas for Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturers to invest at home, Winbond Electronics Corp. has decided to build its first 12-inch wafer plant in Taiwan. Winbond previously decided to set up its first 12-inch wafer plant in Tainan Science-Based Industrial Park. The company opted out of the development in Tainan, in southern Taiwan, because the high-speed railway will be built very close to the originally-set location for the 12-inch wafer plant, which needs vibration-free conditions for its manufacturing process. The company's spokesman said that several local governments had expressed their enthusiasm for housing Winbond's first 12-inch wafer plant. The decision was made by Winbond to select the plant location from more than 30 alternates in mid-May. Winbond promised that its first 12-inch wafer plant would be located in Taiwan, and it is slated to start construction probably at the year's end.The company will introduce the 0.11-micron manufacturing process into its first 12-inch wafer plant, and upgrade the manufacturing process in its 8-inch wafer plant from 0.175-micron to 0.13-micron next year. United Microelectronics Corp. is considering building its new 12-inch wafer plant in Singapore, where it already has one 12-inch wafer plant. UMC's Chairman John Hsuan, asked about the location of the corporation's new plant, said that the company had three 12-inch wafer plants sited in Taiwan, Japan and Singapore, and would not rule out the possibility of locating its fourth 12-inch wafer plant abroad. <BR><BR>Hsuan said that the decision over new plant's location would be made in accordance with the performance of the plants in Taiwan and Singapore. If the company decides to set up the new 12-inch wafer plant in Singapore again, it will relocate one third of the capacity to Singapore. Construction on UMC's joint venture 12-inch wafer plant formed with Germany's Infineon in Singapore started in the second week of April. (Commercial Times, Taiwan)

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (45773)	4/23/2001 6:21:55 PM
From: Shoibal Datta	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts March 2001 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 0.64 SAN JOSE, Calif., April 23, 2001 -- The North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.3 billion in orders in March 2001 and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.64, according to the April 2001 Express Report published today by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI). A book-to-bill of 0.64 means that orders were 36 percent lower than shipments for the month. The three-month average of worldwide bookings in March 2001 was $1.31 billion. The bookings figure is 23 percent below the revised February 2001 level of $1.69 billion and 49 percent below the $2.55 billion in orders posted in March 2000. The three-month average of worldwide shipments in March 2001 was $2.04 billion. The shipments figure is 11 percent below the revised February 2001 level of $2.29 billion but is 17 percent above the March 2000 shipments level of $1.74 billion. "The March numbers reveal the continued erosion of bookings during the first quarter, which is not surprising given the continued softness in chip markets," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "Some analysts believe that pricing pressures could come into play during the third quarter, leading chip makers to make so-called 'technology buys' as they seek to lower costs through improved productivity." The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average bookings to three-month moving average shipments for the North American semiconductor equipment industry. Shipments and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars. Shipments Bookings Book-to-Bill October 2000 2,573.8 2,993.1 1.16 November 2000 2,422.3 2,707.3 1.12 December 2000 2,389.4 2,372.3 0.99 January 2001 (final) 2,308.4 1,854.1 0.80 February 2001 (rev.) 2,294.3 1,686.3 0.73 March 2001 (prelim.) 2,038.4 1,305.1 0.64 The data contained in this release was compiled by the independent public accounting firm of Arthur Andersen LLP, without audit, from data submitted directly by the participants. SEMI and Arthur Andersen LLP can assume no responsibility for the accuracy of the underlying data. The data are contained in a monthly Express Report published by SEMI that tracks shipments and orders worldwide of North American-based manufacturers of equipment used to manufacture semiconductor devices, not shipments and orders of the chips themselves. The May 2001 Express Report is scheduled for publication on May 22, 2001 (subject to change). Based in San Jose, Calif., SEMI is an international trade association serving more than 2,400 companies participating in the semiconductor and flat panel display equipment and materials markets. SEMI maintains offices in Austin, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Hsinchu, Moscow, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit SEMI on the Internet at www.semi.org.