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

To: FJB who wrote (40270)	10/22/1998 11:31:00 PM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 53903

Micron Accuses Taiwan Semiconductor Makers of 'Dumping' Product in U.S. Bloomberg News October 22, 1998, 4:49 p.m. PT Washington, Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Micron Technology Inc., the world's second-largest maker of computer memory chips, called on the U.S. government to impose duties on Taiwanese companies the manufacturer said are selling chips in the U.S. at unfairly low prices. In petitions filed with the U.S. Commerce Department and International Trade Commission, Boise, Idaho-based Micron charged that the Taiwanese companies' pricing for dynamic random-access memory chips is causing ''material injury'' to U.S. producers, the company said in a statement. The Taiwanese producers are ''building capacity in an export- driven industry,'' said Amy Kleiner, head of government relations for Micron. While Micron doesn't object to that strategy, she said, ''It's unfair if you're selling below cost.'' The new petitions take aim at companies like Acer Inc., Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. and Mosel Vitelic Inc. They come six weeks after the Commerce Department ruled that South Korea's LG Semiconductor Co. and its rival Hyundai Electronics Co., which are soon to merge to create the world's largest maker of DRAMs, were ''dumping'' chips in the U.S. by selling them below the cost of production. The companies may face penalties involving more than $400 million in exports in 1996 and 1997. DRAM prices in the U.S. have tumbled in the last two years, partly because of the cyclical nature of the industry, but also because of the devaluation of Asian currencies, including the Korean won. Prices for 16-megabit DRAMs range between $1.60 and $3.00, while prices for 64-megabit DRAMs range between about $8.50 and $10.50. That represents a decline of roughly 95 percent during the last two-and-a-half years. The company's earlier dumping complaints against Taiwanese and South Korean static random-access memory chipmakers led the U.S. government to impose duties against those producers. Micron last week won language in the $500 billion 1999 budget agreement that seeks to prevent the International Monetary Fund from financing South Korean computer chip makers accused of dumping their products in the U.S. market. The ITC and Commerce Department were unavailable for comment. Micron shares rose 11/16 to 34 11/16.

To: FJB who wrote (40270)	10/22/1998 11:52:00 PM
From: DJBEINO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 53903

Toshiba Retrenching Memory Production Toshiba <TOKYO:6502> is reorganizing its semiconductor production and has committed to concentrating its domestic productions of memories and logic circuits in its facilities in Yokkaichi, Mie Pref. and Oita City, Oita Pref., respectively. It will declare operating losses of 20 billion yen in the fiscal year ending March 31, 1999, but hopes to return to black ink within the next fiscal year by concentrating on specialty circuits. Production in Yokkaichi will include 4-megabit (Mb) DRAMs, 16-Mb DRAMs, 64- Mb DRAMs, SRAMs, and flash memories. Yokkaichi had stopped production of memories smaller than 16 Mb. It will continue with its scheduled opening of its new subsidiary Yokkaichi Toshiba Electronics in that city. Plans call for reduction of the share of DRAMs in Toshiba's production from the present 80% to 50%; capacity will be shifted increasingly to production of SRAMs.