Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Rambus (RMBS) - Eagle or Penguin -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Marc Schiler who wrote (3276)	3/15/1998 8:49:00 AM
From: Michel Bera	Respond to of 93625

Thread, DRAM crisis may be the answer to current slump on RMBS. Some news on RMBS : ---- snip Matsushita facility may delay opening -- DRAM price crash leads co. to reconsider plans By Andrew MacLellan Silicon Valley- Stung by a DRAM price crash, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. may postpone the opening of its new wafer fab in Puyallup, Wash. The $600 million fab, which is run by Matsushita Semiconductor Co. of America, was expected to begin manufacturing 4-Mbit, 16-Mbit, and 64-Mbit DRAM chips later this year. However, a sharp and prolonged decline in DRAM prices, including a 33% drop in the fourth quarter of 1997, has caused Matsushita to consider delaying those plans, although the company would not say by how long. "We're continuing with the construction of that leading-edge fabrication facility, and that facility has not reached the manufacturing phase yet," a Matsushita spokesman said. "There have been significant changes in the semiconductor market since we started construction, including a decline in the price of semiconductor memories, which exceeded expectations. At this point, Matsushita Semiconductor is studying the issues related to a future launch of operations while keeping a close eye on the market." The facility, known as Building D, would be Matsushita's second non-Asian chip-manufacturing plant. A second Puyallup fab, Building C, was purchased from National Semiconductor Corp. in 1990 and produces 4-Mbit DRAM and microcontrollers. The Matsushita spokesman said the company will continue to equip Building D even though no production date has been set for the facility. Sherry Garber, a senior analyst at Semico Research Corp., Phoenix, said the fab received the bulk of its equipment by September 1997 and should be capable of volume production by the third quarter. Matsushita ranked 14th among DRAM vendors in 1997, according to Semico. The company has plants in Tonami and Osaka, Japan, but has yet to introduce 64-Mbit DRAM. Last November, Matsushita signed a deal under which Macronix International Co. Ltd., Hsinchu, Taiwan, agreed to serve as a foundry source for higher-density chips. Earlier this month, Matsushita became the latest vendor to license the memory and logic interface technology of Rambus Inc., Mountain View, Calif., which it will use to develop digital consumer appliances. Copyright (c) 1998 CMP Media Inc. Direct lead : techweb.com Regards, MiB

To: Marc Schiler who wrote (3276)	3/15/1998 8:52:00 AM
From: Michel Bera	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93625

Thread, Some more news from CMP. snip Smart arrangement By Smart Modular Technologies Inc., Fremont, Calif., has partnered with Rambus Inc. The deal enables Smart to design, manufacture and sell Direct Rambus RIMM modules. Samples of Direct Rambus DRAMs are expected this year with volume production in 1999. Copyright (c) 1998 CMP Media Inc. Direct lead : techweb.com Regards, MiB