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

To: trilobyte who wrote (47445)	5/30/2001 9:58:09 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Semiconductor Makers May Face More Cuts in Capital Spending May 30, 2001 (TOKYO) -- Japan's five major semiconductor manufacturers, which have earmarked 28 percent less for fiscal 2001 capital spending than in the previous year, are likely to face additional spending cuts as chip demand continues to be sluggish, analysts say. Toshiba Corp., which is planning 140 billion yen investments this fiscal year, has decided not to place orders for chip-making equipment in April and May. The company will carefully implement spending plans by gauging the market trend. Hitachi Ltd., which is planning to spend 55 billion yen to boost production at a joint venture in Ibaraki Prefecture, may be forced to postpone the expansion. "If demand remains sluggish, we might postpone the plan until next fiscal year," said a high-ranking official at Hitachi. Many chipmakers will now review their investment plans every month or at least quarterly. Previously, such reviews were usually done once in six months. Mitsubishi Electric Corp., for example, has begun construction of a new plant, but has not decided when to install new equipment there. Until this spring, chipmakers expected slight gains in semiconductor demand in 2001. But sentiment has grown weaker since the beginning of April. World Semiconductor Trade Statistics Inc., a global industry organization, has forecast the chip market will shrink by 13.5 percent this year. Since April, overseas manufacturers, including Texas Instruments Inc. of the U.S. and STMicroelectronics, a French-Italian joint venture, have announced cuts in their capital spending this year. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun)