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To: Skeeter Bug who wrote (41942)	1/7/1999 10:45:00 AM
From: DJBEINO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 53903

Semiconductor Market Shows Signs Of Bottoming Out Thursday, January 7, 1999 TOKYO (Nikkei)--Evidence is emerging that memory-chip prices have begun bottoming out following a sharp downturn, thanks to production cuts by Japanese and South Korean makers as well as strong demand for personal computers. The U.S. price of a 64-megabit DRAM chip, which fell by as much as 60% in the six months before its slide halted in June 1998, currently stands in the upper end of the 9 dollar range. The benchmark price rose above 10 dollars in November as PC makers accelerated their parts procurement ahead of the holiday shopping season. The price recovery was triggered by production cuts carried out last June by Samsung Electronics Co. and other South Korean makers. In addition, as Japanese makers freeze production increases, the memory glut has been easing. Thanks to the upturn in the U.S., Japanese chip makers have been increasingly successful in hiking the prices charged to makers of PCs and PC peripherals. Large-lot users are now paying 1,000-1,200 yen per chip, up from 1,000-1,100 yen last June. South Korean makers began relaxing production cuts since November. But an official at LG Electronics Japan Inc. says the firm, like many others, is "focusing on profitability rather than higher market share." Given the trend, the supply of 64M DRAMs is unlikely to rise sharply for some time, analysts say