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Technology Stocks : Cymer (CYMI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Bloxom who wrote (12931)	1/21/1998 8:49:00 PM
From: TideGlider	Respond to of 25960

Korean Chip Capital Spending May Be Halved By Jack Robertson, Semiconductor Business News South Korean chip manufacturers will spend about $2 billion on semiconductor equipment in 1998 -- about half of what they collective spent in 1997 and 1996, according to a new forecast presented in Seoul Wednesday at the Semicon Korea trade show. Faced with the country's economic crisis, Korean companies are expected to hold back on adding new capacity this year, said Chi-Luck Kim, president of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association. He said capital investment will be focused on technology purchases to upgrade existing fabs. One indication of sharp cutbacks in Korean capital spending is LG Semicon alone spent $2 billion on equipment in 1997 -- as much as the total Korean industry is expected to spend this year. In the fourth quarter 1997, semiconductor equipment sales in Asia -- excluding Japan -- fell 17 percent to $2.5 billion, according to Paul Davis, vice president of international operations at the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) trade group, which sponsors Semicon Korea. Davis said he couldn't forecast what will happen in the immediate future, though he felt the original projections for Asia might be tempered a little. "Taiwan, however, is continuing to order equipment, and even in Korea, we expect further buying of technology equipment," he said. Meanwhile, Kim of the Korean chip association said the worst "may be over in severe price cutting on the 16-megabit DRAMs." Kim said he believed U.S.-based Micron Technology "has peaked on its 16-megabit production" so the rampant increases in supply that crippled the market in 1997 may be moderating. If 16-megabit prices stabilize, that could help the 64-megabit market, Kim said. "If 16-megabit DRAM prices stabilize, the four-times price crossover of 64 megabits could occur in the second quarter of this year," Kim said. In turn, that could kick off the market for the next-generation device, which he hoped would bring better profit margins to the hard-strapped DRAM producers -- especially those in Korea.