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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Marc Trombella who wrote (14331)	1/9/1998 9:15:00 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Re:South Korea's monetary meltdown will most likely fuel more steep cuts in DRAM and memory pricing in early 1998 because Korean suppliers now have a "cost holiday" resulting from currency devaluations against the U.S. dollar, said analysts during the annual Industry Strategy Symposium here this week. "About 55 percent of the DRAM manufacturing costs [in Korea] are won-sensitive," said analyst Clark J. Fuhs, director of Dataquest's semiconductor equipment, manufacturing, and materials program, based in San Jose. "The result is they can cut prices and still maintain a 'profit margin,'" he added, referring to the ability to skirt anti-dumping measures in the U.S. and European markets. Marc, Another take on the Korean debacle is that DRAM prices will stabilize, the result of chip cos. not having the ability to acquire the needed materials for production. During the past week or two, DRAM spot prices have actually risen. Anyone notice MU's $2 gain yesterday in the face of an equipment selloff? The reason is that many feel that the Korean mess will lead to a Darwinism survival of the fittest where only the strongest players are still in the game, resulting temporarily at least, in an equilibrium of DRAM prices since capacity will decrease. IMHO, either scenario could play out though I feel the latter is much more probable and would be more healty for the industry long-term, since the inefficient players would be purged out of the sector. Regards, Brian