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

To: etchmeister who wrote (12290)	12/2/2004 3:18:58 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Used fab real estate market slows amid chip lull By Mark LaPedus Silicon Strategies 12/02/2004, 2:36 PM ET SAN JOSE, Calif. — The used wafer fab real estate market continues to cool amid the current and ongoing IC slowdown. There are some positive signs in the arena, however. For example, a used 8-inch fab sold for an average price of 30 cents on the dollar in January of 2000, according to real estate broker Colliers International, as quoted by a report from a recent newsletter published by Semiconductor Manufacturing. By November of 2003, a used 8-inch fab sold for 6 cents on the dollar, according to the report. The used fab market appears to have rebounded in terms of overall prices. Today, the medium price for a 6- or 8-inch used fab is 25-to-30 cents on the dollar, said Stephen Rothrock, senior vice president of the Advanced Technology Real Estate Group at Colliers International (Boston). The lower end of the scale is 6 cents on the dollar, Rothrock said. "A large majority of (used fab) sales are 50 percent below the replacement cost," he said. Headquartered in Seattle, Wash., the Advanced Technology Real Estate Group helps companies buy and sell advanced technology buildings, including fabs. Customers include Fujitsu, On, Intel, Agere, Microchip Technology, Matsushita, Kanematsu, NEC, Fluke, and Maxim. Still, the used fab real estate climate is slowing amid a lull in the overall IC business. Often times, the fab real estate market reflects the IC market. "It's cooled down a bit," he said. "I would say the fab real estate market is in decline." From 2000 to 2002, Colliers International "had quite a few fabs" up for sale on the market. At present, there are more than a dozen 8-inch fabs up for sale. "It's less than we've seen in the past," he said. At the same time, there has been a shift towards fab sales in Asia. Some 40 percent of the fab real estate market is in China; in contrast, the North American market is slow, according to Colliers International. "You are seeing the U.S. fabs downsize," he said. Many prospective fab buyers also want more bang for their buck. For example, fab buyers are interested in procuring a plant -- with the leading-edge equipment intact. And some fabs never find a buyer. NEC Corp. plans to flatten a wafer fab in Scotland, according to reports. Colliers International had been attempting to find a buyer for the fab, but there were no takers. NEC's plant, one of the symbols of Scotland's rise in semiconductor manufacturing during the 1980s and 1990s as Silicon Glen, was closed three years ago with the loss of 1260 jobs. NEC has been unable to find a buyer for the clean rooms in Livingston, which have been up for sale for more than eighteen months, the reports said NEC is likely to make at least £20 million (about US$37 million) from any sale, one of the reports said (see Nov. 18 story).