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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Amy J who wrote (179532)	10/5/2004 8:04:22 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 186894

Toshiba says flash memory shipments remain strong Tue Oct 5, 2004 02:25 AM ET TOKYO, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Japanese chip maker Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday its shipments of flash memories remained strong in the latest quarter, shrugging off a warning of lower sales by rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) . AMD, based in Sunnyvale, California, citing softness in sales of its memory chips used in cell phones and other devices, said on Monday its quarterly revenue will be lower than forecast, prompting a sell-off of its shares. But Toshiba, the world's second-largest flash memory maker after South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) , said it has not seen a slowdown in its sales and is enjoying broad demand for its memory chips including for photo phones, digital electronics devices and car navigation systems. "The use of our NAND flash memory has been widening to various digital electronics devices and car navigation systems and there was no sign of weakness in demand for our flash memory chips in the quarter that ended in September," a spokesman said. The NAND flash memory market, dominated by Toshiba and Samsung, has enjoyed explosive growth from demand for digital cameras, memory cards and MP3 music players and is seen to grow to $16 billion by 2008, according to research group Semico. The NAND is a type of high-density flash memory chip that can write and erase information quickly. It is used to store data such as still and movie pictures. On the back of solid demand, Toshiba's flash memory plant in central Japan has been running at full capacity including during the summer holiday season, the spokesman said. To meet robust demand from digital camera and mobile phone markets, Toshiba decided in August to boost output capacity for flash memory chips at the plant by 7.5 percent by the first half of the business year starting next April. Meanwhile, AMD and larger rival Intel Corp. (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , suppliers of the NOR flash memory chip, which is used predominantly in cell phones to store application software, have seen their sales of flash memory chips at less than forecast in the quarter. Earlier this month, Intel lowered its forecast, blaming lower-than-expected demand for its microprocessors, flash memories and communications chips. Shares in Toshiba ended down 1.17 percent at 421 yen, compared with a 0.02 percent drop in the benchmark Nikkei average . Shares in peer Fujitsu Ltd (6702.T: Quote, Profile, Research) which holds a 40 percent stake in Spansion, a flash memory joint venture with AMD, fell 1.8 percent to 654 yen.

To: Amy J who wrote (179532)	10/12/2004 2:58:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Intel: A growth machine no more By John Shinal Last Update: 2:46 PM ET Oct. 12, 2004 SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Tech investors who haven't noticed that the growth torch has passed from middle-aged companies like Intel to Yahoo and other upstarts may want to take a close look at the firms' third-quarter earnings reports. Both will report after the close of trading Tuesday, and the growth comparison will be stark. Yahoo's (YHOO: news, chart, profile) quarterly revenue is expected to rise more than 80 percent from a year ago, while Intel will likely post annual growth in the high single digits. Looking past this quarter is even more instructive. Analysts expect Intel's 2004 sales to be $33.7 million. In 1999, near the height of the last growth cycle, the company's annual revenue was $29.4 billion. So if Intel (INTC: news, chart, profile)hits its number this year, it will have posted a five-year average annual sales growth rate of - drum roll, please -- 3 percent. Yet many on Wall Street - especially those who made big money on tech stalwarts like Intel, Cisco Systems (CSCO: news, chart, profile) and Sun Microsystems (SUNW: news, chart, profile) during the last bull market -still believe those companies will lead the next leg of the tech growth cycle. But the long history of U.S. markets, like the recent history of Intel, doesn't support that thesis, according to one fund manager. "In tech, it's all about the new supplanting the old," said Kenneth Broad, who co-manages $1.1 billion in the TransAmerica Premier Growth Opportunities Fund. The key word in that quote is "old." Although Intel is arguably one of the most successful innovators in U.S. corporate history, it began making semiconductors the same year Richard Nixon first won the White House. So while Intel's business depends on being innovative, it is nevertheless an old - and mature -- business. Some industries move slowly enough so that one firm can dominate for decades - think Coca Cola in retail. Yet tech firms tend to get put out to pasture at a relatively young age, Broad said. One example he cited: Silicon Graphics (SGI: news, chart, profile), whose work stations were all the rage among graphic designers in the early 1990's, but is now a bit player. "If you look at the SGI stock chart, it's a 20-year round trip," Broad said. Not that Intel is the same as Silicon Graphics. The firm has consistently used its emphasis on engineering innovation to stay on top of the market for computer chips. For example, the company's push to make chips for laptops - which are more profitable than those used in desktop PC's - gave it a boost in recent years. Yet its efforts to branch out into other markets - for communication and networking chips, for example, haven't met with nearly as much success. So the company still gets the vast majority of its revenue from its core microprocessor business. And that business has matured. For that reason, growth investors will have a tough time finding a reason to own the stock. Those who do may be thinking with their hearts, rather than their wallets. "People tend to cling to the past," Broad said. With Intel, "they're looking in the rear view mirror."