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To: Skeeter Bug who wrote (38033)	9/1/1998 11:17:00 PM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 53903

DRAM Market: Moving to Better Quarters Tuesday, September 1 11:49 AM ET PHOENIX (BUSINESS WIRE) - Semico Research Corp. issued a timely analysis of the DRAM module market this week. Following the trend of the DRAM market, the DRAM module market revenue will decline by 19 percent - the result of lower DRAM ASPs. Revenue is projected to by $14 billion in 1998. The drastic drop in DRAM prices led to lower module prices, which served to stimulate growth in the module market. Demand for higher density DRAM modules increased which is moderating the revenue decrease. 1998 DRAM module consumption naturally increased in desktop PCs with increased memory size. The greatest increase in demand came from OEMs. Unlike past years when DRAM modules were more expensive, OEMs loaded enough memory before shipment that most PC buyers did not need to upgrade at purchase time. The module is essential to the DRAM industry future. It is in this form that more than 80 percent of all DRAMs reach the end-user. Modules are used by computer, consumer, industrial and communications markets. Even as "system-on-a-chip" becomes the phrase of the future, modules are still projected to be a critical component. The computer industry led the move to DRAM modules. DRAMs in module form enabled memory configuration at the end of the manufacturing process or even at the customer's premises. As operating systems were introduced for the desktop PC that consumed greater and greater amounts of memory, the module carried the DRAM into the consumer market. Computer retailers now have the capability to increase memory size for the consumer at the point of sale. The number of participants in the DRAM module market is expected to decline. As the requirements to participate become more demanding and expensive, the dropouts will exceed the entrants. Among the requirements to produce PC100-compliant modules is engineering design expertise to work with clients to produce the functional product, assembly expertise to design high volume manufacturable modules, and final test capabilities to test modules to very exacting performance specifications. This study also includes DRAM module vendor market shares. Samsung and Kingston were the number one and two vendors in the DRAM module market in 1997. Additional information about this study, and other products and services, is available at the Semico Research Corp. website www.semico.com, or by contacting Semico Research at 602/997-0337. Semico Research Corp. is a leader in semiconductor market analysis, research and custom consulting. Its headquarters are in Phoenix, with offices in Redwood City, Calif. and Boston, as well as Europe and Japan. Contact: Semico Research Corp., Phoenix Morry Marshall, 602/997-0337

To: Skeeter Bug who wrote (38033)	9/2/1998
From: DJBEINO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 53903

Mitsubishi To Close Durham Plant, Will Outsource Module Ops. (5:15 p.m. EDT, 9/1/98) By Andrew Maclellan Citing DRAM prices 20% below the level needed for profitability, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. has confirmed today plans to close its Durham, N.C., plant as of Nov. 6, and relocate its memory module test and assembly operations to California. Mitsubishi will also centralize all of its Durham-based discrete chip assembly and test in Nagano, Japan. Mitsubishi will lay off 230 employees as a result of the move. The announcement marks the second time in just six months that the company has made cuts at the Durham site. In a move last January that cost 200 jobs, Mitsubishi closed an aging plant that had been making 1- and 4-Mbit DRAM and announced its intention to turn the Durham campus into a design, test, and assembly site to serve its U.S. OEM customers' build-to-order demands. The site was to have provided test and assembly for up to 2 million 64-Mbit DRAM chips and as many as 500,000 memory modules monthly. Under the revised plan, subsidiary Mitsubishi Semiconductor America will outsource all module assembly operations to the Electronic Device Group of Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif. The move is expected to lower costs, eliminate the need for near-term investment in module capacity, and allow Mitsubishi to outsource build-to-order logistics through selected partners, according to Michael Bocian, general manager of the Electronic Device Group's memory division. A team of 100 engineers will remain in Durham, with their design focus now dedicated to system-on-a-chip and microcontroller design, according to a company spokesman. ebnews.com