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

To: matt dillabough who wrote (15178)	6/3/2005 10:25:27 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Indian IT group floats plan for memory foundry K.C. Krishnadas (06/03/2005 9:14 AM EDT) BANGALORE, India — A semiconductor foundry to make memory chips for mobile handsets and consumer electronics products is set to be built in Kochi, in Kerala state in south India, in 2008, according to the chairman of the locally-based Nest Group, who referred to help from an unnamed Japanese company. The billion-dollar foundry is scheduled to be built after the establishment of a chip design center and a test facility. The $60 million Nest Group is based in Kerala and operates various businesses in information technology including the manufacture of fiber optics, and the sale of computers and IT-enabled services. The first phase of the foundry project is set to involve the setting up a VLSI design center in a pact with an undisclosed Japanese company. Group chairman Javed Hassan said in Kochi on Thursday (June 2) that the design center, which is forecast to employ about 200 people, would be up and running by January 2005 and would be followed by the opening of a test facility in mid-2007. The foundry would be constructed next and would be ready by the end of 2008. A billion dollars will be needed for the foundry but funds are not a problem, Hassan said, according to news reports. Potential investors from West Asia and Japan have already been identified. Still, thee are problem areas such as getting uninterrupted and good quality power and de-ionized water. Among the plans under consideration are an investment by the group itself in a power plant and a desalination plant for sea water. The memory chips from the plant could be used to meet local demand caused by India's exploding market for wireless handsets, many of which would eventually be handheld computers, Hassan said. The group also plans to make optical chips for broadband communications for the fiber-to-the-home market, but no more details about this plan were immediately available. Kochi, the commercial capital of Kerala — a state better known for its tourist potential — is an unlikely location for a semiconductor foundry. Already, the state is known for its activist politics and hardly known for any IT-related activities, though it has been trying to woo software development firms to set up bases there. Unless the Nest Group builds its own power plant and, especially a desalination plant, such a plan is certain to run into trouble. Coca-Cola, which has a soft drinks factory in the north-western part of Kerala, has run into severe problems because of allegations that it has tapped into groundwater and depleted the availability of drinking water in the region. If the Nest group's plans come to fruition, it could be the second private chip foundry in the country. Another wafer fab has been proposed for construction near Hyderabad in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh by Korean company Intellect. Work was due to have started in February. India has no real fabrication facilities, except for a small wafer fab in Chandigarh owned by the government and using mature technology; this is now used for smart cards and small, defense-related projects.

To: matt dillabough who wrote (15178)	6/3/2005 12:47:26 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 25522

Applied Materials Could Challenge KLA-Tencor.....but sell AMAT anyway: Applied Materials Could Challenge KLA-Tencor 06.03.05, 12:08 PM ET Banc of America Securities reiterated a "sell" rating and $14.20 price target on Applied Materials (nasdaq: AMAT - news - people ). The company will hold an analyst and investor meeting on June 6, where it is expected to introduce a bright field wafer inspection tool, part of what the research firm calls "a major segment of the process control market," adding that process control is one of the few critical front-end equipment segments where Applied's market share is very low. Banc of America believes the announcement could weigh on KLA-Tencor (nasdaq: KLAC - news - people ) and its stock price as the company holds 70% of the market. Wafer inspection comprises 35% of KLA-Tencor's revenue. Banc of America said "we think at a minimum a handful of customers will evaluate the tool and use it in their negotiations with KLA-Tencor. If the tool proves competitive then it would likely take share in a critical segment dominated by KLA-Tencor and slow KLA-Tencor's growth. The challenge for Applied is to position their tool against the broad capabilities of KLA-Tencor's 2138 system for detecting a range of defects." In its coverage of semiconductor capital equipment, Banc of America's top pick is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (nyse: TSM - news - people ), rated at "buy" with a target price of $9.35. Its least favorite is Teradyne (nyse: TER - news - people ), rated at "sell" with a target price of $9.80.