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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (54091)	10/12/2001 1:24:45 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

TSMC's Chang sees foundry uptick for Q4, but drops pessimistic hints for 2002 By Mark LaPedus Semiconductor Business News (10/12/01 12:53 p.m. EST) SAN JOSE -- Morris Chang, chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), here this week indicated that business conditions are finally improving in the silicon foundry business, but he also drop some pessimistic hints for 2002. The current IC downturn has forced TSMC and its foundry rivals to slash its 2001capital expenditures on several occasions. The Hsinchu-based company's capital expenditures are projected to hit $2.2 billion in 2001, compared to $3.4 billion in 2000. But given the uncertainty and lack of visibility in the IC market, TSMC appears to be cautious about its spending for 2002. "I expect our capital expenditures in 2002 will be even less [than 2001]," said Morris Chang, chairman of TSMC, during a question and answer session after giving a presentation at a semiconductor conference on Wednesday. Chang made his comments at the International Symposium on Semiconductor Manufacturing (ISSM) conference, which took place in San Jose earlier this week. Chang did not elaborate on TSMC's capital expenditures for 2002, but he seemed to alter his overall IC outlook for next year. In recent reports, Chang indicated that the worldwide IC recovery would take place as early as the fourth quarter of 2001. Now, the semiconductor veteran gave no indication when the IC recovery would occur. "I don't know when the robust recovery will happen," Chang said during the question and answer session. But still, TSMC's business appears to be looking up amid the IC downturn. "For TSMC, we hit the bottom in May and June," he said. "Since then, we've had a mild upswing. Our fourth quarter [of 2001] will be better than the third quarter." However, TSMC has prepared for the worst. In recent times, the company has cut costs by implementing a hiring freeze, cutting capital expenditures, and halting the construction of a wafer fab in a new science park in the southern Taiwan city of Tainan. The company has yet to reduce its headcount in the form of layoffs.