[ale] [Fwd: [SE2600] Got DRAM?]

[dj4aces]

In reference to the rising prices in memory ...

--Alan

> 
> J+L+J Dean wrote:
> >
> > And you thought a quake in Taiwan would have no personal effect on you...
> >
> > http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19990922/tc/quake_electronics_1.html
> >
> > Wednesday September 22 2:54 AM ET
> >
> > Quake Compromises Taiwan Chip Output, Prices Soar
> > By Sarah Davison
> >
> > TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's giant earthquake has knocked out the island's
> > semiconductor industry for at least two weeks, costing $350 million in lost
> > production and pushing up the price of chip products worldwide, analysts
> > said Wednesday.
> >
> > All semiconductor companies will be affected, but those especially hard hit
> > are chip plants located in Hsinchu Science Park in the island's north, and
> > companies located in Taichung, close to the quake's epicenter.
> >
> > At least 23 of Taiwan's 26 integrated circuit (IC) plants are located at
> > Hsinchu, which is expected to remain without power or water for another two
> > days. Telephone contact is intermittent.
> >
> > ``The IC companies in Hsinchu have very little tolerance to this kind of
> > disaster,'' said Leonard Hsueh, research chief at SinoPac Securities.
> >
> > Companies with facilities in Taichung are expected to suffer most. Analysts
> > said Siliconware Precision Industries and Macronix International Corp have
> > warned of production problems.
> >
> > Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co said wafer output would drop 10
> > percent this month.
> >
> > The loss of power is the greatest hurdle; power authorities have warned that
> > electricity supply will remain unstable for at least two weeks.
> >
> > Production has also been compromised by continuous aftershocks, which are
> > battering the island and throwing sensitive chip-making equipment out of
> > kilter.
> >
> > This will pose quality control problems even for chipmakers who have an
> > independent power supply.
> >
> > Analysts said production was unlikely to restart for as long as there was a
> > threat of aftershocks, contributing a loss of at least 50 basis points to
> > Taiwan's quarterly economic growth figures.
> >
> > ``Any product still in the product line will not be useful, and all the
> > equipment will have to be adjusted. That will take half a month,'' said
> > Oliver Fang, head of institutional sales at National Securities.
> >
> > Taiwan's top economic planner, Chiang Pin-kung, told Reuters Wednesday it
> > would be difficult to attain this year's growth target of 5.74 percent,
> > recently upgraded from an earlier estimate of 5.1 percent due to surging
> > exports.
> >
> > Chip inventories could sustain revenues for the short term, but thereafter
> > lower production could cause at least a 10-percent decline in revenues
> > throughout September and October, Fang said.
> >
> > Analysts said makers of DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) chips will be
> > more affected than foundry chip makers, whose wafer production facilities
> > run intermittently, but the prices of all IC products will rise sharply.
> >
> > Taiwan contributes more than 65 percent toward global capacity of integrated
> > circuit products, most of which are high value parts used in a wide variety
> > of electronic products.
> >
> > IC products make up eight percent of the global electronics capacity. ``That
> > is a substantial impact,'' said Hsueh of SinoPac.
> >
> > Price projections for a 64-megabit DRAM chip range from US$17 to US$20 in
> > the next few days. Thereafter, consolidation could shave off some gains, but
> > even the most bearish analysts said prices would remain at a minimum of $15
> > for the next few weeks.
> >
> > ``Prices will remain tight until year-end,'' said Peter Tsao, head of
> > research at ING Barings in Taipei.
> >
> > Foundry chip products -- most of which are priced on a contract basis -- are
> > also expected to rise. Using an eight-inch wafer board as a rough benchmark,
> > analysts said prices could rise at least 10 percent from current levels of
> > $3,000.
> >
> > Annual year-end price increases could be brought forward to October, raising
> > the price of global computer products just in time for the Christmas sales
> > bonanza.
> >
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> 
> --
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>      (2) dj4aces
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> 
> "Marriage is an attempt to make something lasting out of an incident"
> -- Einstein


-- 
ICQ: 1372361
IRC: (1) datDereDj
     (2) dj4aces
Websites: (1) http://dj4aces.freewebsites.com
          (2) http://www.totalconnectionsinc.com -- Coming Soon!

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-------dj4aces at bellsouth.net--------

"Marriage is an attempt to make something lasting out of an incident" 
-- Einstein