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

To: Gottfried who wrote (15974)	9/15/2005 12:16:25 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

U.S. consortium interested in India fab K.C. Krishnadas EE Times (09/15/2005 9:42 AM EDT) BANGALORE, India — A consortium of Indian equipment companies in the U.S. has expressed interest in putting up a wafer fab in India, with the Indian government agreeing to the proposal in principle. Expected to cost $3 billion to $4 billion, this would be the first such project in India, said Dayanidhi Maran, federal minister for communications and information technology, according to a report by United News of India from Chennai Sept. 15. "We have asked them (the consortium) to come out with a detailed project structure and the Centre had agreed to partake in the investment on joint venture equity basis," the report quoted the minister as saying. The project was first talked about a couple of months ago. "The project is being developed with a futuristic vision as chips can be manufactured in 45, 40 and 35 nanometer size. We have a similar plant in Hyderabad, but it was a low-end plant where the chips are 250 nanometers," he said. "I see a ray of hope as the wafer manufacturers, and Applied Materials Inc.--which provides machinery to manufacture wafers--have sought six months time to come out with a detailed project," the minister said. Speculation about an India-based fab has risen the last few months, with one being planned in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh by a South Korean entrepreneur and another in Kochi, Kerala by an Indian businessman. The common link in these proposals is that the locations are in southern India, though the minister did not say where the latest plan is expected to be implemented.

To: Gottfried who wrote (15974)	9/15/2005 4:00:46 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Semico raises IC forecast for 2005, 2006 Mark LaPedus (09/15/2005 3:16 PM EDT) SAN JOSE, Calif. — The bears at Semico Research Corp. have suddenly turned into bulls, as the market research firm raised its semiconductor forecast for the next two years. The research firm not only sees growth in traditional markets but also in so-called media hubs for the digital domain. Once one of the more pessimistic forecasters, Semico (Phoenix) now projects that the semiconductor industry will grow by 4 percent to $221.6 billion in 2005 over 2004, up from its previous forecast of 2 percent for the year. In 2006, the research firm projects the semiconductor industry will grow a whopping 18.2 percent to $262.1 billion, double its previous forecast of 8.1 percent. Semico, however, reduced its previous forecast for 2007 and 2008. Originally, it projected growth of 19.8 percent in 2007 and 18.1 percent in 2008. In its new forecast, the IC market is projected to hit $308.7 billion in 2007, up 17.8 percent from 2006, according to Semico. The IC market is projected to reach $356.3 billion in 2008, up 15.4 percent from 2007, according to Semico. Jim Feldhan, president of Semico, sees a downturn coming in the second half of 2008. The IC market, in turn, will hit $346.3 billion in 2009, down 2.8 percent over 2008. In the short term, Feldhan is bullish for this year and next. “We’re upbeat,” he said in an interview at the Semico Outlook Conference on Thursday (September 15). “We’re not going to mimic what everyone else says,” he said. “We still see a lot of innovations.” Feldhan was referring to the growing number of pessimistic forecasts from other, undisclosed research houses. Gartner, iSuppli and others have published relatively bearish forecasts for semiconductors. A rapid rise in energy prices coupled with a growing excess of manufacturing capacity has recently prompted iSuppli Corp. to trim its semiconductor industry forecast for 2005. iSuppli (El Segundo, Calif.) now projects global semiconductor sales to reach $232.7 billion in 2005, up 2.4 percent from $227.2 billion in 2004. For 2006, sales are projected to rise 4.3 percent to $242.8 billion. The firm previously projected a 5.9 percent sales increase in 2005, followed by a 3.9 percent increase in 2006 (see Sept. 8 story). Even Semico remains cautious to some degree. “While we are optimistic heading into 2006, there are two factors that could curb this growth trend and potentially translate into a loss of discretionary income and lower consumer-confidence soaring gas prices and hurricane Katrina,” according to a newsletter from Semico. On the other hand, the PC and cellular phone markets remain robust. “The traditional markets will drive the peaks and valley in this industry,” Feldhan said. Technologies like Bluetooth, RFID, WiFi and others will drive growth as well, he said. Silicon foundry wafer demand is expected to show disappointing growth in 2005, but the sector is projected to rebound in 2006, according to Semico (see Sept. 14 story). There are other market drivers. Morry Marshall, an analyst with Semico, said the media hub could be the next killer application. The media hub is a device that captures digital content from different platforms and transcodes the content into a variety of playback formats. It can have wired and/or wireless networking connectivity and data storage capability. According to Semico, there are three major types of media hubs. This includes the PC-centric media hub, which positions the PC as the center for home entertainment; a stand-alone media hub, which is a platform that was specifically developed to store and play back digital content throughout the home; and the CE-platform media hub, set top box or video game console, according to Semico.

To: Gottfried who wrote (15974)	9/16/2005 8:49:44 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Warning signs seen for IC glut EE Times (09/16/2005 2:25 AM EDT) SAN JOSE, Calif. — Is the IC industry headed towards another inventory “adjustment” or glut? There are signs that the industry is moving towards that dreaded direction. Over the past ten years, IC unit shipments have registered a steady compound annual growth rate of about 9 percent, according to IC Insights Inc. (Scottsdale, Ariz.). However, IC unit shipments began to depart from this trend line in the second quarter of 2005 — an ominous sign to some. “IC Insights forecasts that 3Q05 IC unit shipments will reach about 10 percent above the long-term IC unit volume trend line before falling back toward the trend line in 4Q05 and even further down heading into 2006,” according to the research firm. “There does not appear to be a precise percentage figure that defines excess IC unit volume levels that cause an inventory adjustment,” according to IC Insights. “However, a significant plus-side departure (10 percent or more) of quarterly IC unit volume shipments from the trend line, coinciding with a slowing of growth (not necessarily a decline) in one or more major electronic system categories are certainly two ‘triggers’ for an IC unit inventory adjustment.”