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

To: robert b furman who wrote (6767)	8/13/2003 11:10:01 PM
From: BWAC	Respond to of 25522

That sounds right.

To: robert b furman who wrote (6767)	8/14/2003 8:13:27 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

S'pore's Chartered reviews demand for advanced chips Thursday August 14, 5:48 am ET SINGAPORE, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd (SES:CSMF.SI - News; NasdaqNM:CHRT - News) said on Thursday it was reevaluating market demand for its next-generation of chips, which are used in mobile phones and computer game graphics. "The company is currently reassessing market demand for 90-nm (nanometre) process technology on 300-mm wafers," Chartered said in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (News - Websites) (SEC). Analysts said this could mean the company, which has reported 10 straight quarters of losses, may consider delaying production at a planned wafer fabrication plant, known as Fab 7. "There's a possibility Chartered could delay Fab 7's production, as there are very few customers out there for 90-nm technology, due to its high upfront development costs," said Pranab Sarmah, analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research. Chartered's sixth and most advanced factory, Fab 7, is scheduled to start production on 90-nm chips in the third quarter of 2004, after being delayed by a year. Chartered had hoped the start of production at the plant would help it catch up with bigger and more advanced rivals like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd (NYSE:TSM - News; Taiwan:2330.TW - News), the world's largest contract chipmaker. The high-end 90-nm chips are used in computer games graphics, mobile phones and personal digital assistants. A smaller micron number means better performance as more circuits can be packed into a single chip. One thousand nanometres is equivalent to one micron. One thousand microns is in turn equal to one millimetre. Chartered spokeswoman Maggie Tan declined to elaborate on the statement. Dharmo Soejanto, analyst with Kim Eng Ong Asia Securities, said that for production processes using a new technology, yield was always an issue. "For 90-nm, you may not get as many good chips out of a wafer when it first starts out," he said. Chartered shares closed unchanged at S$1.06 on Thursday. The stock has outperformed the broader Straits Times Index (SES:^STI - News) by 25 percent in the last six months.