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

To: Cary Salsberg who wrote (9050)	2/27/2004 8:13:02 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Cary, Customers are ordering in prudent small increments and orders are coming from across the boar This is why I am partial to a longer recovery. Once we see customers ordering with reckless abandon, we will need to worry. I consistently hear that customers are still somewhat hesitant to place large orders, or get very aggressive.....this does not in any way support a sector which is topping out as most analysts currently believe. Brian

To: Cary Salsberg who wrote (9050)	2/27/2004 8:13:56 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

China Huahong NEC to treble chip capacity in 3 yrs Friday February 27, 2:32 am ET SHANGHAI, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Shanghai Huahong NEC Electronics Co, a pioneer in China's nascent chip sector, said on Friday it would boost its chip capacity to 80,000-100,000 wafers a month from 30,000 in three years, joining an expansion bandwagon. Its announcement came after Japanese computers-to-semiconductors conglomerate Fujitsu Ltd (Tokyo:6702.T - News) said it was considering building a plant that would use cutting-edge 300mm (12-inch) silicon wafers to make chips. Huahong NEC, whose investors include local firm Huahong Group, Japanese electronics conglomerate NEC Corp (Tokyo:6701.T - News) and U.S.-based Jazz Semiconductor, said the company would use proceeds from its planned public offering to fund the expansion. However, the company, which last year said it was preparing for a stock listing in Hong Kong in 2004, did not disclose the size of the investment or provide details of its impending IPO. In the first step of the expansion, the company plans to raise its monthly capacity to the equivalent of 40,000 eight-inch wafers this year from 30,000 wafers in 2003. Besides Fujitsu, a slew of chip makers in the region are already expanding capacity to meet robust demand. China sucks in eight percent of chips made worldwide for use in everything from mobile phones to personal computers, importing more than 80 percent of its demand. China's largest chip maker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, is building a new factory in Beijing, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (Taiwan:2330.TW - News), the world's largest contract chip maker, begins production at its plant in Shanghai by the end of this year. Global chip sales in 2003 grew by 18 percent from 2002 on the back of rising consumer demand for electronics, and the U.S.-based Semiconductor Industry Association expects double-digit growth this year. But that would not erase concerns among some industry watchers that the expansion may fail to be completed before the end of the current industry upturn. It typically takes about two to three years to build a semiconductor factory. Terry Cheng, president of Texas Instruments Inc's (NYSE:TXN - News) Asian operations, said on Thursday he was confident that the chip market would remain strong at least until the end of June, and that he hoped the good times would last through 2005.