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To: yard_man who wrote (34163)	6/2/1998 10:33:00 AM
From: DJBEINO	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 53903

06-03-98 Chip Makers Plan to Reduce Output to Bolster Prices Korea's leading semiconductor makers, sandwiched between pressure to cut output to prevent further price fall and the need to maintain market share, finally appear set to follow the former direction, industry sources said yesterday. ''The nation's major semiconductor producers are being driven home to the dire need to reduce their production due to sharp price falls in the international market,'' said an industry official. ''At the same time, however, they are unwilling to take the lead out of fears on losing their competitive edge as well as market shares.'' The recent supply glut of semiconductors has drastically lowered their prices, forcing companies to cut down on their shipments to restore price competitiveness. The nation's three leading semiconductor companies _ Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Electronics Industries and LG Semicon _ are all saying that the reduction in production is a must, the sources said. ''All of the three companies share the same view that we should reduce our shipments or stop production lines for a while,'' an LG spokesman said. He attributed the slump in the prices of semiconductors in the world market to Taiwan's massive supply of underpriced models. ''The prices of 64-M DRAM stood at around $20. But now you can buy them at less than half the price,'' said the LG official, adding that more widely used 16-M DRAM is sold even under $1. He said that the three companies are now in discussion to readjust their production volume, but no conclusion has yet been reached. Hyundai Monday hinted that it would stop its production lines during this weekend. But the company later backed off from its position, saying that it would do so only if other companies also choose to reduce their production. However, the reduction decision by the three companies, which account for about 40 percent of the world's semiconductor market, may provoke foreign makers to increase their production volume, warned a Hyundai official. ''Even if we agree to cut our production, there's no assurance that foreign companies will follow suit. In a worst case, we could lose our competitiveness and market share,'' he said. But industry sources said that a reduction may be inevitable to help turn around the plummeting semiconductor prices.

To: yard_man who wrote (34163)	6/2/1998 11:12:00 AM
From: DJBEINO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 53903

Japan body says sees '98 chip market of $145.5 bln TOKYO, June 2 (Reuters) - The Electronic Industries Association of Japan (EIAJ) forecast on Tuesday that the worldwide semiconductor market would grow six percent in calendar 1998 to $145.5 billion. ''The recovery is slow due to the Asian economic crisis and a sluggish Japanese economy,'' the association said in a report. The market expanded 4.0 percent in 1997 after negative growth of 8.6 percent in 1996, the association said. It said its expects the Japanese semiconductor market to grow by 3.5 percent to $33.2 billion this year. The worldwide market for Dynamic Random Access Memory chips (DRAMs), meanwhile, would drop 13 percent to $17.2 billion. However a recovery should begin in 1999, the association said. ''We expect the average DRAM capacity to increase to 58 MB (megabytes), including add-on boards in 1998, compared to 36 MB in 1997. In 2001 that amount will grow to 104 MB,'' the report said. biz.yahoo.com