To: dr_elis who wrote (1329 ) 12/22/2006 3:08:09 PM From: niek Read Replies (1) | Respond to re: If they don´t invest NOW Samsung will have them for breakfast. Samsung Enjoying Boom in DRAM Business Its semiconductor business is expected to set a new record in fourth-quarter performance. More than W10 billion profits a day Samsung Electronics will post more than W1 trillion in DRAM chip sales per month in the fourth quarter for the first time this year. Return on sales also surged from some 35 percent in the third quarter to close at 40 percent for the quarter. That means the electronics giant posts more than W10 billion in operating profit a day in the DRAM business alone. Analysts predict that Hynix Semiconductor, too, will see a whopping W700 billion operating profit in the fourth quarter alone thanks to the booming DRAM industry. The reason is that global demand has been far exceeding supply this year. PC makers are eager to secure enough chips to prepare for the introduction of the Windows Vista operating system in February. DRAM chip prices usually drop 30-40 percent annually, but supply shortages capped that at only 10-15 percent this year. Samsung Electronics managing director Chun Jun-young said the firm can meet only 70 percent of the DRAM demand. "We are rather worried that DRAM prices will continue to be this high in the first half of next year," he added. Surge in prices could force PC makers to cut purchases. DRAM industry will continue to do well Samsung Electronics says it expected the DRAM business to do well this year, but not this well. "Some forecast that the brisk market conditions will come to a halt next year, but that's not likely," Samsung's semiconductor division head Hwang Chang-kyu said. "The DRAM chip business is likely to continue to prosper next year and the year after that." This is because the industry cannot expect a sudden surge in global DRAM supply for the time being. Global chip makers such as Micron Technology and Qimonda (formerly known as Infineon) shifted their focus from DRAM to Flash memory chips last year, and DRAM production volume fell significantly. "The DRAM business was once considered a declining industry, but we will see that memory chips including DRAM will take the lead in the future."
