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Technology Stocks : Micron Only Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DJBEINO who wrote (34529)	6/8/1998 1:28:00 AM
From: DJBEINO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 53903

TI may sell chip arm to Micron (financial times-london) By Louise Kehoe in San Francisco and William Lewis in New York Texas Instruments, a leading US semiconductor manufacturer, is understood to be in talks to sell its memory chip manufacturing operations to Micron Technology, another US chipmaker. The sale would make Micron of Idaho the largest US producer of Dynamic Random Access Memory (D-Ram) chips, the basic memory devices used in all types of computers. However, the terms under discussion could not be established yesterday and people familiar with the talks cautioned that any deal could be some weeks off. TI has D-Ram manufacturing operations in the US, Italy and Japan. These include joint ventures with other chipmakers and wholly owned facilities. Analysts estimate annual revenues from these operations last year at about $850m. The company has been scaling back its involvement in the D-Ram market over the past few years in favour of more profitable digital signal processor product lines. In March it sold its 33 per cent stake in a D-Ram joint venture with Acer of Taiwan to Acer. D-Ram prices have plunged by some 80 per cent over the past year as supply outstripped demand. Prices for 16-megabit D-Rams have fallen from about $4 four months ago to as little as $1.30, according to industry analysts. However, recent moves by some of the world's largest producers in South Korea to halt production temporarily have raised hopes that prices may stabilise. Moreover, cuts in capital spending by Asian producers could result in a world shortage of D-Rams by 2000, according to analysts at Dataquest, the US market research group. Micron, which specialises in D-Ram production, is understood to be particularly interested in acquiring a TI D-Ram factory in Dallas, Texas. TI became the sole owner of the plant earlier this year when Hitachi pulled out of a joint venture with TI. Goldman Sachs is understood to be advising Micron on the prospective deal, while Texas Instruments is believed to be advised by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.