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Technology Stocks : Semi Equipment Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (39832)	8/8/2008 12:06:39 PM
From: Donald Wennerstrom	Respond to of 95639

TSMC, UMC post mixed July sales on weak chip demand TAIPEI, Aug 8 (Reuters) - TSMC 2330.TW, the world's top contract chip maker, said on Friday its July sales edged up 7 percent, marking its smallest annual gain in 10 months after a global economic slowdown hurt tech demand. Smaller rival UMC 2303.TW was also not immune to weaker sales of new computers, mobile phones and other consumer gadgets, as it saw July sales drop 15 percent from a year earlier. The two Taiwan companies had expressed concerns over slower demand for the third quarter, as analysts say some of their clients were busy clearing out excess inventories instead of placing new orders. Looking into the fourth quarter, more pain is likely for TSMC and UMC if their clients' stockpiles swell and the global economy deteriorates, analysts said. "We are not sure about back-to-school demand now and visibility for the fourth quarter remains unclear," said Chiang Chen-sheng, manager at Taiwan's Masterlink Investment Advisory. "I assume the U.S. economy might hit bottom in the second quarter of next year and, before we see a recovery, we are cautious." Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) (TSM), which supplies to Texas Instruments (TXN) and Nvidia (NVDA), had unconsolidated sales of T$30.87 billion ($996 million) last month, compared with T$28.77 billion a year ago. Sales at United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) (UMC), the world's No.2 chip foundry, fell to T$8.537 billion in July, from T$10.053 billion a year ago. (To see a graphic on TSMC/UMC combined sales, click on customers.reuters.com TSMC had said it expected third-quarter sales to grow about 4 percent from the second quarter, while its third-quarter profit margins would remain stable. In the same quarter, UMC's wafer shipments are forecast to be flat and its average selling prices flat to 2 percent lower. TSMC expects sales growth in the foundry market, dominated by TSMC, UMC and Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd CSMF.SI, to outpace that of the overall semiconductor market in 2008. TSMC and UMC announced the figures as the Taipei stock market closed on Friday. TSMC shares rose 1.7 percent and UMC shares shot up 5.8 percent, while the main TAIEX index .TWII jumped 2.6 percent. On a consolidated basis, TSMC's sales totalled T$207.43 billion in the first seven months of the year, up 22.5 percent from the year-ago period. UMC's sales were T$57.77 billion in January-July, down 0.7 percent from a year ago. (US$1=T$31.0)

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (39832)	8/8/2008 1:25:14 PM
From: The Ox	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95639

"The first half of next business year is going to be tough," he said. "We're hoping for a recovery in orders in January-March, but we can't be certain of anything in this climate." We need more companies to come out and state this publicly. These are the types of statements we hear when its darkest before the dawn. The market is starting to understand this and we're seeing a very nice bounce in the semis. If the semis continue to lead us out of this mess, it will be very positive for the overall market, imo. Too early to call!