To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (52963 ) 7/28/2011 11:14:24 AM From: Donald Wennerstrom 3 Recommendations Read Replies (1) | Respond to Jul 27, 2011 Lam Cuts Outlook For Chip Equipment Spending conference call with analysts following a disappointing quarterly outlook Lam Research ( LRCX CEO Steve Newberry said that some contract chip makers were cutting their plans for using older chip technology, thereby reducing equipment needs, and that there was a lag in the move to the next advance in chip technology: Foundry players have adjusted 2011 spending plans in response to reduced demand for 65 nanometer and above capacity which has resulted in lower utilization rates. With the cost at capacity at 32-28 nanometer nodes in the range of $1 billion for 10,000 new wafer starts per month, the leading edge foundry players are telling us that they plan to delay the earlier stated 32-28 nanometer ramp plans while they address yield ramping issues that are fairly typical with any transition to a new major technology node. integrated device makers and foundry companies is likely to total just $10 billion to $13 billion this year, which is down from a view for $14 billion to $15 billion that the company had outlined back in April. DRAM memory chips are “being very cautious with spending on capacity [...] due to concerns over consumer PC demand,” but that NAND investment appeared to be “on track.” wafer fab spending , then, is estimated at $29 billion to $32 billion this year, down from April’s forecast of $32 billion to $34 billion. That means revenue for the chip equipment industry that will either be flat with last year, or up a mere 10%, versus the earlier projected rate of growth of 12% to 17%.
