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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jeffrey D who wrote (29561)	4/13/1999 7:10:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Japan's Microchip Makers Lag U.S., Asia in Investments April 13, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Japanese microchip makers lag behind other semiconductor manufacturers around the globe that have resumed investments in plants and equipment. Investment activity was dormant during the business slump, but it hit bottom, with prices of personal computers, communication appliances and memories now rising owing to favorable sales. Come-back semiconductor manufacturers are judging it is the time to invest in new semiconductor plants and equipment. According to an industry source, Intel Corp., Micron Technology Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Texas Instruments, Inc. have resumed large-scale investments of 300 billion yen, 200 billion yen, 150 billion yen and 150 billion yen, respectively, though these figures have not been announced officially (121.33 yen = US$1). As a result, some semiconductor manufacturing equipment makers have had a rush of orders. Applied Materials Inc. and Tokyo Electron Ltd. already have received enough orders to be at full capacity, so they cannot ship orders placed this month until this autumn. They must put their plants at full operation this summer. By contrast, major Japanese semiconductor makers such as NEC Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. recorded large red-ink figures in their 1998 settlements, and they will make large-scale reductions in their plant and equipment investments. Some company officials at manufacturing equipment makers said that if Japanese semiconductor makers lose their timing, they will end up with poor performance, opening opportunities for overseas makers to advance. Semiconductor makers which can ramp up lines for processing 0.18-micron design rule products will have an edge in production costs, industry watchers said. Japanese semiconductor makers are said to have a slight lead in this technology as of now. The 0.18 design rule will be a mainstay, they added. nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com