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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stoctrash who wrote (39958)	6/19/2001 9:29:28 PM
From: Stoctrash	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

<<Message #39958 from Stoctrash at Jun 19, 2001 9:48 AM I shorted the gap IQBalz... you scared OJ off pretty bad, you should say you are sorry to him too. >> ================ I shorted INTC just before mid-day too, but only told people on my private IM<<GGG>>> Anyone want to subscibe, it's only $40/week?? :-) ========== Memory chip market still hurting; Samsung excepted Korea's memory chipmakers are shifting their flagship products to 256Mb synchronous DRAM (dynamic random access memory) in a departure from 64Mb and 128Mb. The portion of Rambus DRAM and DDR (double data rate) chips to its total production is also on the rise. But the prices of memory chips are stubbornly low, largely because the sudden inflow of the so-called next-generation chips has engulfed already-rattled demand for high-end chips. The price of a 128Mb DRAM chips is hovering around $2.50, a touch higher than $2.40 just over a week ago but still well below the break-even point of around $3.50, while 64 Mb chips remain around $1.20 a piece. Nonetheless, chipmakers are expected to increase their production volume in a bid to take an initiative in the market - even at the risk of hemorrhaging. The assumption is that a vicious price war in the DRAM market is pushing the minnows out of the memory business, which could translate into rich pickings for the survivors when the market sees an upturn. But it is anybody's guess when this will happen. With the exception of Samsung Electronics, few companies are forecast to see their balance sheet in the black in the second quarter ending on June 30, analysts said. The second quarter traditionally marks the low point for the PC industry before demand picks up amid back-to-school and Christmas sales in the third and fourth quarters, respectively. Analysts expect Samsung Electronics alone can eke out a profit due to its income from high-performance Rambus chips and from its handset operations. Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chipmaker, recently said Rambus chips should account for around 12 percent of the overall DRAM market this year. Samsung is one of the biggest producers of Rambus memory chips after it took about 50 percent in market share for the high-performance chip last year. Other encouraging signs recently came from Hynix Semiconductor Inc. which successfully issued $1.25 billion in global depositary receipts priced at $12 each, with a 24 percent discount over the local share price. The capital raised was higher than the initial target of $800 million from the GDR issue and analysts projected that Hynix may relieve some of its liquidity pressure despite a slowdown in the semiconductor market. Moreover, Hynix's lead manager, Salomon Smith Barney, has an over-allotment option to issue 15 percent of $1.25 billion in additional GDRs if more investors show up within 30 days after pricing. Analysts expect the option, if exercised, will help Hynix raise up to $1.44 billion through its GDR issue. But the chipmaker, formerly known as Hyundai Electronics Industries, faces an uncertain outlook as long as the DRAM market is mired in a slump. Offering a psychological reprieve, the Semiconductor Industry Association projected that although sales will fall 14 percent this year, they will rebound 20 percent next year and 25 percent the year after. What matters most, however, is whether memory chipmakers could see any rebound over coming months that might help them to steer clear of high inventory levels and a continued supply-demand imbalance. The semiconductor downturn has been unusual in that it wasn't simply caused by an oversupply of chips. It was caused by both oversupply and a slowdown in demand. The demand for personal computers, the main market for the chips, is still tepid and a lack of attractive new, memory-hungry software has also kept the average number of chips installed in each computer more or less constant in the past year. Worse, Intel's new Pentium 4 chip, which was expected to drive memory sales because it works best with fast memory chips, has been priced too high for most consumers' pockets. Pentium 4 is also designed to work with only one type of memory chip technology developed by U.S.-based Rambus. Samsung Electronics benefited from patent-infringement battles between Rambus and other memory chipmakers as it was one of the few companies actually making profits by producing the Rambus chip. Meanwhile, other memory manufacturers in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the U.S. and Europe are cutting costs and delaying expansion plans to stay afloat. Korea's memory chipmakers pin their hope on an optimistic outlook projecting a stronger demand for PC memory chips in the second half of the year. Intel is expected to slash the price of its Pentium 4 chip and Microsoft is scheduled to release Windows XP, a new PC operating system, in October. (insight@koreaherald.co.kr By Yang Sung-jin Staff reporter