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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (156)	10/30/2001 9:56:12 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Taiwan's Electronics Sector Continues Declining: No Sign of Rebound Seen October 30, 2001 (TOKYO) -- The total sales of listed companies in Taiwan's electronics sector in September fell 22.5 percent compared with the same month a year earlier. This sector comprises 186 firms, including 34 companies that were transferred from the over the counter market in September. The January-to-September sales shrank by 7.6 percent compared with the same period last year. There is no sign of a rebound. If corporate entities are excluded from the surveyed players, then the total sales in September rose by 0.8 percent month-on-month. However, the 0.8 percent increase is considered to be very weak because the period from September to November is usually one of the busiest seasons for PC-related firms. Some negative effects were likely seen from the terrorist attack in the United States on Sept. 11 and from a typhoon that hit Taiwan that same month, which paralyzed its transportation system. The trend rather bodes ill for the demand for PCs and communication-related products. As for 20 representative firms in each product field, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), Quanta Computer Inc., Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., Compal Electronics Inc., Acer Inc., Yageo Corp., their YOY sales fell by 31 percent in August and by 34 percent in September. In terms of a month-on-month comparison, the 3 percent increase in September is not considered to be significant. Since the general demand is not expected to grow for some time, major manufacturers are eating up shares of smaller ones to keep their sales or even increase sales. It is remarkable that since July microchip foundries such as TSMC and UMC in upstream processes are recovering in terms of month-on-month sales, thanks to increased demand for PCs and consumer electronics products. The number of products sold, however, is the same or even decreasing, and there are many factors to be considered: a dull tone in the growth rate of motherboard production for medium PC manufacturers which have been leading the demand for the foundries, a delay in production of Xbox, and others. Indeed, a risk is seen of a decreased production rate in the period from November to the first quarter in 2002. Downstream foundries have poor businesses for desktop PC and a slow business for notebook PCs. But sales to Dell Computer Corp. of the United States continue to be in good shape and motherboard production continues increasing. This is an upward trend since last June. In terms of motherboard sales, momentum has been generated mainly from Pentium 4-support motherboards for medium-sized PC makers. But it is likely to slow down after November because the recent demand for chipsets has already started declining. As for cellular-phone assembly, Acer Communications & Multimedia Inc. increased its shipments since the company started OEM delivery of low-end types for Motorola Inc. Many companies have built up production capacities in Taiwan. The total number of Taiwan's cell phones delivered this year is likely to be slightly more than the 10 million unit level of 2000. Related story: Taiwan's Electronic Sector Continues Declining; Upward Trend Seen Toward Year-End (Yasuo Nakane, Vice President, Analyst, Deutsche Securities Ltd., Tokyo Branch, Special to Nikkei Microdevices)