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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (4871)	1/12/2003 2:33:44 AM
From: Jeffrey D	Respond to of 25522

Could someone ask China's leaders to hold off any plans to invade Taiwan for another year, please? Jeff << Business Times - 12 Jan 2003 Taiwan chipmakers TSMC, UMC seen performing better in 2003 TAIPEI - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corp (UMC), the world's two largest contract chipmakers, are expected to perform better in 2003 on hopes that the global semiconductor sector will stage a modest rebound, analysts say. The global semiconductor industry is likely to benefit from a recovery in demand for personal computers and PC peripheral products as well as growth in mobile phone handset sales, they say. 'TSMC's book-to-bill ratio of above 1.0 (in November and December) has given us a positive indication for the world IC (independent chipmaker) industry,' said Shawn Wang, an analyst with KGI Securities. A book-to-bill ratio of 1.0 means order inflow for the manufacture is stable or even improving. 'After the traditional slow season in the first quarter of the year, TSMC and UMC may experience steady growth starting from the second quarter,' Mr Wang said. Currently TSMC and UMC account for more than 70 per cent of the global contract chip market. Chris Hsieh, director of ING Financial Markets in Taipei, said corporates worldwide were expected to kick off their PC replacement cycle, in particular in the second half of this year, after a prolonged delay amid the global economic slowdown. Mr Hsieh said demand for networking products was expected to rise accordingly, while mobile phone handset sales for 2003 may be up about 10 per cent on 2002. TSMC and UMC made up 16 per cent of the global sales in handset-used chips in 2002 and the market share is expected to grow to 20 per cent in 2003, Mr Hsieh said. 'I expect the two IC giants will have a better 2003,' he added. Mr Hsieh expects TSMC to post a 13 per cent increase in 2003 sales over 2002 and UMC to report a 29 per cent rise. Last year TSMC recorded 160.90 billion Taiwan dollars (S$8.1billion) in sales, up 27.8 per cent from a year earlier, while UMC recorded 67.43 billion dollars, up 4.6 per cent. Copyright © 2003 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (4871)	1/13/2003 12:37:27 PM
From: Jeffrey D	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 25522

Anyone know who or what Fulcrum is? Jeff << Ridgeland, MS, JAN 13, 2003 (EventX/Knobias.com via COMTEX) -- Company: Applied Materials, Inc. (NasdaqNM: AMAT) Analyst Firm: Fulcrum Rating Action: Initiating Coverage Rating: Buy Target Price: $25