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

To: Sarmad Y. Hermiz who wrote (5069)	1/20/2003 9:34:41 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Sarmad, Not leading edge or a large amount but beggars can't be choosers..... SMI to expand 6-in. foundry for MEMS Semiconductor Business News (01/20/03 04:39 p.m. EST) MILPITAS, Calif.--Silicon Microstructures Inc. (SMI) here has begun its previously stated plan to expand its wafer foundry for micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) devices. This wafer fab project, to be completed in mid-2003, has started with the relocation of a portion of the company's silicon etch operations from Hawthorne to Milpitas, Calif. The 6-in. fab will expand SMI's pressure sensor and MEMS foundry business, said Jim Knutti, president of SMI. Founded in 1991, SMI is a subsidiary of Germany's Elmos Semiconductor AG. "Many MEMS developers and pressure sensor suppliers are coming to SMI for foundry services instead of establishing their own MEMS production operations in order to take advantage of the lower costs and tighter process controls that we have achieved by virtue of our higher production volumes," he said in a statement Last year, Transparent Networks Inc., a developer of photonic telecommunications systems, signed a foundry services agreement with SMI. Transparent Networks plans to make MEMS and micro-optoelectromechanical systems (MOEMS) for photonic switches, including 3D mirror arrays, 3D fiber aligners and components for photonic integrated circuits, at Milpitas-based SMI (see Sept. 4, 2002 story ).

To: Sarmad Y. Hermiz who wrote (5069)	1/21/2003 8:54:52 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

TSMC, UMC to cut 2003 capex more than 25%, says report Semiconductor Business News (01/21/03 07:58 a.m. EST) TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd and United Microelectronics Corp., the two leading contract manufacturers of chips, are both set to cut their capital expenditures by more than 25% in 2003, according to a report from Taiwan. Digitimes, retelling a story it says it read in the Chinese-language Economic Daily News, said that TSMC is expected to reduce capital spending by between 27% and 39% from US$1.65 billion in 2002 to between $1.0 billion and $1.2 billion this year. The sources predicted that United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) would cut its capex by 37.5% from $800 million in 2002 to $500 million this year. The companies are expected to announce official spending figures for 2003 at their investor conferences at the end of the month. The cuts are attributed to a stuttering chip market and lingering overcapacity in the foundries' 8-inch and 12-inch fabs. Intel, the world's largest chipmaker is also making cuts in capex, although less severe than those predicted for Taiwan (see January 14 2003 story). But at the same time Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. seems to be keen to buy market share by a massive expansion of its manufacturing capacity. Samsung reported that it plans to spend $3.56 billion in semiconductor-only capital investment in 2003, up 90% from its $1.87 billion capex for 2002 (see January 17 2003 story).