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

To: Pam who wrote (42813)	1/20/2009 9:08:28 AM
From: robert b furman	Respond to of 95596

Hi Pam, This post referenced is "Deja Vu" 1998. Remember when S.Korean memory makers were going broke trying to get market share. Subsequently Micron almost bought Hynex - but the good ole bot club saved the deal. Now to just get in the same spot. Thank goodness logic as different than memory sector or there would be an inventory overhang. The one glaring difference is the Asian Contagion is now in USA,UK and Europe? Bob

To: Pam who wrote (42813)	1/24/2009 11:49:31 AM
From: Pam	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95596

Here's a bit of entertainment for the w/e, enjoy!! youtube.com -Pam Qimonda Files For Insolvency As Bailout Plan Fails Message 25349258 By Archibald Preuschat Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)--Germany memory chip maker Qimonda AG (QI) filed for insolvency Friday as the global slump in memory chip prices scuppered a bailout plan. The insolvency petition is the result of the massive drop in prices of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips, which fell nearly 75% in 2008 according DRAMeXchange, and dramatically decreased access to financing on the capital markets, the Munich-based company said Friday. DRAMeXchange is Asia's biggest spot market for DRAMs. Late December, a plan was announced that would have given Qimonda a EUR325 million cash infusion from its biggest shareholder, semiconductor firm Infineon Technologies AG (IFX), a Portuguese development bank and the German State of Saxony. That successful implementation of that plan, with additional governmental guarantees of EUR280 million, would have meant Qimonda could continue to operate after it warned in December it could run out of cash early this year if it failed to find an investor or strategic partner. Infineon, which spun off Qimonda in 2006, still has a 77.5% stake in the memory chip maker. But according to information obtained by Dow Jones Newswires Thursday, Qimonda has a financing gap of EUR300 million due to the accelerating decline in DRAM prices. In common with chip makers around the world Qimonda is grappling with falling demand and prices and a lack of liquidity. Many have announced the closure of less-productive factories, cut jobs and delayed investment projects. Also like many other memory chip makers, Qimonda needs to spend heavily in research and development and in the production of memory chips, which can only pay out if high quantities are produced. Winbond Electronics Corp. (2344.TW), one of Taiwan's small memory chip companies, works as a contractor for Qimonda. It has stopped shipping chips to Qimonda, company spokesman Wilson Wen said Friday. Qimonda said it intends to restructure key business units while under insolvency, and said it assumes it will be able to continue its business within the context of its restructuring program. A Qimonda spokesman declined to comment on the company's current gross cash position. As of Sept. 30. Qimonda's gross cash position was EUR432 million but it sold its 35.6% stake in Taiwanese memory-memory-chip maker Inotera Memories Inc. (3474.TW) to U.S. peer Micron Technology Inc. (MU) late last year for $400 million. Still, a German economics ministry spokeswoman said Friday that Qimonda couldn't provide a sustainable business model and banks had declined to take on remaining risks. Infineon said it intends to raise provisions for liabilities linked with Qimonda in the first quarter of the current 2009 fiscal year ending Sept. 30. It also said that it expects higher provisions in the course of fiscal 09 totaling to a low three-digit-million-euro sum. Elpida Memory Inc. (6665.TO) expects little impact on its operations from Qimonda AG's (QI) filing for insolvency, an Elpida spokeswoman said Friday, as an alliance between the Japanese and German chip makers to shrink chips has been on hold since autumn, she said. Qimonda's share closed Thursday in New York down 25% at $0.26 on concerns that the bailout plan was at risk. At 1301 GMT, Infineon traded down 4.2% at EUR0.69 in Frankfurt, in an overall lower market. Company Web sites: www.qimonda.com www.infineon.com -By Archibald Preuschat, Dow Jones Newswires, +49 69 297 25 505, archibald.preuschat@dowjones.com (Andrea Thomas in Berlin, Yuzo Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Jessie Ho in Taipei contributed to that report.) (END) Dow Jones NewswiresJanuary 23, 2009 08:25 ET (13:25 GMT)