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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (6316)	6/20/2003 8:14:48 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Is Winbond blowing smoke on 300-mm fab plans? By Mark LaPedus Semiconductor Business News (06/20/03 03:52 p.m. EST) HSINCHU, Taiwan - Winbond Electronics Corp. today (June 20) announced plans to build its initial 300-mm fab, but analysts wondered if the Taiwanese chip maker is blowing smoke--again. The Hsinchu-based company said it would build a 300-mm fab for its flash-memory devices within two years, according to a report from Dow Jones. The chip maker is looking to build the fab in the new science park in the central Taiwan city of Tainan, according to the report. Observers pointed that Winbond has made similar announcements in the past, but the company failed to deliver on its promises. In 2000, for example, Winbond claimed it would build two 300-mm-wafer fabs in Tainan--at a cost of $6 billion. At that time, Winbond said it would break ground on the new fabs in 2000, with plans to move into production by 2003. Then, in 2001, Winbond scrapped plans to locate its 300-mm wafer fabrication facility in the Tainan Science Park because of concern over vibrations from a high-speed railway project planned to run near the park (see Feb. 21, 2001 story ). Analysts remain doubtful that the company will ever build a 300-mm fab--at least in Tainan. Some suspect that today's announcement from Winbond may be a ploy to boost its stock price on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE).