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 : Semiconductor Industry Sales Trends -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Henry D who wrote (85)	9/10/1998 9:28:00 PM
From: j g cordes	Respond to of 105

Henry.. I see you're working hard to keep your site alive. I think Infrastructure is right according to their polls taken recently with great pessimism in world markets. I think in reality they're wrong because change once it gets underway moves much more quickly than pessimism allows. If consumer market demands require new capital outlays money will materialize. Jim

To: Henry D who wrote (85)	9/11/1998 1:43:00 AM
From: Michael Sphar	Respond to of 105

Komatsu agrees and then some: A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc. Story posted at 6:15 p.m. EDT/3:15 p.m. PDT, 9/10/98 Komatsu lays off 120, suspends some operations at wafer fab HILLSBORO, Ore. -- Komatsu Silicon America, a subsidiary of Komatsu Electronic Metals Co. Ltd., of Japan, announced today that it will suspend second-phase operations at its silicon wafer plant here because of the difficult business conditions in the semiconductor industry. KSA president and CEO John Matlock said the move will necessitate the layoff of approximately 120 of the company's 220 Hillsboro employees. KSA recently completed a $400 million manufacturing complex in Hillsboro to produce 200-mm silicon wafers. The first phase, epitaxial processing, will continue to run. Phase two, consisting of crystal-production and polished-wafer operations, will be suspended immediately, said Matlock. The announcement means effectively eliminating all jobs in the two operations. Matlock said the shutdown is expected to remain in effect for about two years. In a related move, Komatsu Silicon USA, a silicon sales company now based in San Jose, will be merged into Komatsu Silicon America. About 10 jobs in marketing and customer service will be relocated to Hillsboro. "Komatsu remains deeply committed to the semiconductor industry, our marketing position in the U.S., and our partnership with the local community," said Matlock. "Our decision has nothing to do with company performance and is based solely on broader market issues."

To: Henry D who wrote (85)	9/11/1998 1:56:00 AM
From: Michael Sphar	Respond to of 105

This is unabashed good news! First it converts some of NECs capacity into ASIC fab supply, which might otherwise have been used to produce more pure DRAMS and it helps expand the universe of DRAM utilization by using an embedded DRAM architecture: A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc. Story posted at 4:30 p.m. EDT/1:30 p.m. PDT, 9/10/98 NEC, Lucent in embedded DRAM partnership TOKYO -- NEC Corp. announced here today that it had enetered an alliance with Lucent Technologies Inc. that allows the U.S. company to combine NEC's embedded DRAM technology with its own logic circuitry in ASICs. The agreement is another step in the industry-wide trend of integrating more and more functional blocks into system-on-chip devices. Lucent will have access to NEC's embedded DRAM cell designs from its ASIC library. The Japanese firm will manufacture the resulting chips, using 0.25-micron technology. "NEC's strength in developing such advanced logic products, coupled with our prowess in designing and manufacturing logic and DRAM, make us well-suited to work with Lucent," said Hajime Sasaki, senior executive vice president at NEC. Lucent's executives agreed. "By putting DRAM and logic together on the same chip, we offer design engineers a new capability in tackling their system-level design challenges," said Ahmed Nawaz, vice president, integrated circuits, for Lucent's microelectronics group.

To: Henry D who wrote (85)	9/11/1998 2:11:00 AM
From: Michael Sphar	Respond to of 105

Growth forecast: A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc. Story updated 8 a.m. EDT/5 a.m. PDT, 9/10/98 Chartered's CEO sees 20% growth in foundry's revenues this year By Will Wade SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Pte. Ltd. will see silicon foundry revenues increase by 20% this year, according to the company's new president and CEO, Barry Waite. Speaking at a briefing here for analysts and the press, Waite surprised industry observers with his bullish forecast in light of the difficult times being faced by most semiconductor manufacturers. Some analysts said if Chartered is able to hit that growth rate, it suggests a potential shakeup in the rankings of silicon foundries, which as a group will most likely post flat results this year at best. Waite, a former chip executive from Motorola Inc., said Chartered's strength this year is based on business with new and existing fabless customers in North America, as well as an expanding presence in Europe. And, although the initial numbers are small, Waite said he was encouraged about the prospects of penetrating the Japanese semiconductor market. Compared to what was originally expected, "our numbers are weak this year," he said during the briefing, which was held on Wednesday in conjunction with Chartered's annual technology forum for new and potential foundry customers. "We were expecting to bring in a lot more than 20%," he added. The briefing was Waite's first major public strategy disclosure since he took the reins at the Singapore-based foundry in May (see May 5 story ). Waite revealed that Chartered plans to bring a new fab online within the next two years, which will probably use 8-inch wafers. Surprised by Waite's optimistic growth projection was Jim Hines, principal analyst for semiconductor contract manufacturing at Dataquest, based in San Jose. "That number is higher than I had expected," he said. With the foundry industry expected to stay flat this year, Hines noted that a 20% gain would likely mean a significant shift in market share among the top-tier foundries, which would include rivals Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC). However, Hines added that Chartered does not yet offer 0.25-micron capability and therefore is not able to compete for that emerging business. Dataquest estimates show Chartered in third place among the pure-play silicon foundries, close behind No. 2 UMC and far behind top-ranked TSMC. Industry estimates collected have placed Chartered's 1997 revenues at about $405 million, which was an increase of 13% over foundry sales of $360 million.

To: Henry D who wrote (85)	9/11/1998 2:37:00 AM
From: Michael Sphar	Respond to of 105

Overcapacity writedowns at IDT: A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc. Story updated 7:30 a.m.EDT/4:30 a.m. PDT, 9/9/98 IDT's Oregon fab overproduces resulting in a big write-down SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Integrated Device Technology Inc. here is planning to take non-recurring charges of $205 million to $240 million in the company's current fiscal quarter because its Oregon wafer fab is producing too many products for the marketplace. Ironically, the wafer fab in Hillsboro, Ore., has done such a good job converting over to 0.25-micron technology that IDT said it is still significantly over producing products despite a recent decision to close the company's chip-processing plant in San Jose (see July 22 story). IDT said it was taking non-recurring charges of $50 million to $60 million for the shutdown of the San Jose plant. But now, the company said an audit revealed that it still has too much production capacity partly because of the size of the Hillsboro fab and the fact that it is now producing more ICs with the quarter-micron process technology. The increase in output coupled with weak global demand for its products has caused IDT to take an additional write-down of the asset carrying value related to the Hillsboro plant. "The Oregon facility is key to IDT's future success," said Len Perham, president and chief executive officer of the Santa Clara company. <b?"However, the global slowdown in the semiconductor industry, the proliferation of foundries in Asia, and the increase in 'hidden capacity' resulting from technology advancements have created widespread overcapacity. "This situation and IDT's own technology advancements have created significantly more capacity than we can reasonably absorb in the near term," he said. "During the past two years, the impact of the costs reported on IDT's statement of operations associated with excess capacity has been significant, and revenue has not grown to absorb the cost of the company's manufacturing assets." Of the charges being taken, $15 million to $20 million represent anticipated cash payments associated with deinstallation of equipment, facility decommissioning and restoration, and employee severance costs, according to IDT. Previously, the company said it expects to take an operating loss in the current fiscal quarter. "Our action acknowledges this overcapacity and is consistent with other operating initiatives taken to bring IDT's costs and revenue in line," Perham said. "While our recent decisions have been difficult to make, these steps and the continued funding of new product development will help ensure IDT's long-term viability and success."

To: Henry D who wrote (85)	9/11/1998 2:47:00 AM
From: Michael Sphar	Respond to of 105

One final posting, from Big Blue, adding to the supply side: A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc. Story updated 2:15 p.m.EDT/11:15 a.m. PDT, 9/9/98 IBM rolls out 256-Mbit SDRAM FISHKILL, N.Y.--IBM Corp. here today announced it has shipped its first samples of 256-Mbit synchronous DRAM devices. The chips use 0.20-micron process technology, and the die are small enough to use the same packaging as current generations of 64-Mbit and 128-Mbit memory chips. "IBM's early shipment of 256-Mbit SDRAMs indicates our ability to supply leadership DRAM products for customers' high-end memory needs," said Kevin Carswell, director of memory products development. "Our plan to qualify and to ramp production of this part in at least two sites during the next six months also confirms our ability to support the volume requirements of our customers." IBM's move to launch a high-density memory product comes at a time when the DRAM industry is facing a potential supplier shakeout, especially in the lower-density segments. Several companies have announced in recent months that they will be scaling back, or eliminating, their production of 16-Mbit memory chips in order to focus on the higher-profit 64-Mbit versions. IBM is aiming this product at the server and workstation market, and the line will eventually include a double-data-rate (DDR) SDRAM product. The first 256-Mbit chips are scheduled for volume production early next year, at the same time the company ramps production for its line of 0.20-micron 64-Mbit devices.

To: Henry D who wrote (85)	9/11/1998 2:57:00 AM
From: Michael Sphar	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 105

More supplyside lowering demand and excess capacity news : Posted: 3:00 p.m., EDT, 9/10/98 Semiconductor sales continue to drop By Margaret Quan SAN JOSE, Calif. - The world's semiconductor market registered its eighth straight month of declining sales in July, with chip sales falling 1.9 percent to $9.66 billion, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. Japan's economic recession and continued pricing pressure were responsible for the decline, the SIA said. July's worldwide sales of $9.66 billion were down 1.9 percent from June and down 17 percent from July '97. Sales in Japan of $2.05 billion dropped 30.2 percent from July '97, with two-thirds of the decline due to the depreciation of the yen, the SIA said. An oversupply of memory chips continues to soften pricing and trim revenues, the SIA said. Despite the bad news, SIA president George Scalise said there are "positive signs" on the horizon, with PC sales continuing to grow. Semiconductor analysts said they expect a seasonal upturn in the market over the next couple of months due to an increase in PC and consumer electronics purchases driven by back-to-school and holiday buying. In the Americas market, chip sales fell from $3.85 billion in June to $3.20 billion in July. In Europe sales dropped from $2.31 billion in June to $2.22 billion in July, and in the Asia-Pacific region sales dropped from $2.54 billion in June to $2.1 billion in July. In June, the SIA revised downward its forecast for 1998 chip sales after seeing an across-the-board drop in sales in the first quarter. The SIA now expects a 1.8 percent decline in sales for the year, to $134.6 billion. Sales figures for August and September may show some improvement, according to Dan Scovel of Fahnestock & Co. (New York). Chip suppliers to the PC industry have reported an increase in August activity after PC makers worked through their excess inventories, he said. Scovel also cited indications of small increases in DRAM pricing in recent weeks. "The DRAM market isn't yet close to good, but prices in the spot market for DRAMs have increased slightly," he said. "We think it's due to the cutbacks by the Koreans, who are shutting plants down for a few days each month. Still, the bad news is none of that capacity is going off-line, and there is still a fair amount of risk in the market."