南韩海力士将停产一闪存生产线 保价稳定
作者： DJN
责任编辑： 阚智
来源： 《电脑商情报》
时间： 2008-04-02 06:49
Hynix Semiconductor Inc. said Tuesday that it plans to shut down a NAND flash-memory-chip fabrication line in the third quarter to reduce output amid an industry slump and falling chip prices.
Also, a plan to launch NAND chip-volume production at a 12-inch fabrication line will likely be pushed to the third quarter from the second, said spokeswoman Shi Hyun Lee. NAND chips are used in consumer-electronics devices such as MP3 players and digital cameras.
"Our investment in the M11 [production] line is being delayed because of the poor global NAND market," she said, adding that the delay and line shutdown will likely help reduce the global NAND market's output by 5% this year.
Hynix is the world's third-largest NAND chip maker by revenue after Samsung Electronics Co. and Toshiba Corp. NAND chips accounted for 40% of the company's total revenue at the end of 2007.
Lee Sun-Tae, an analyst at Meritz Securities, said: "This is good news for its rivals and the NAND market....For Hynix, this will mean a reduced market share."
Hynix had planned to begin volume production of NAND chips at the 12-inch-wafer M11 line at a plant in Cheongju in the second quarter. The new line will gradually be ramped up to have a monthly output capacity of more than 130,000 units of 12-inch wafers, the company said in January.
Its M9 line, which the company Tuesday said would be shut in the third quarter, had a monthly output capacity of 150,000 units of 8-inch wafers at the end of 2007. But output was gradually lowered to 120,000 units in the first quarter of this year, according to Meritz Securities.
James Chung, a spokesman at Samsung Electronics, declined to comment when asked if the company plans to adjust its NAND chip output to counter falling chip prices.
NAND prices have remained at record lows since late 2007 because of weaker-than-expected demand for the chips.
Separately, Samsung Electronics said it is seeking a single-digit percentage point increase this month in prices of dynamic random access memory chips it sells to clients. DRAM chips are used in personal computers.
"DRAM prices being well below costs, we are considering a slight upward adjustment of our contract prices for April," Woosik Chu, executive vice president of Samsung's investor relations division, said in an interview. "However, market condition as of yet does not warrant a significant hike at this point."
The news pushed shares in Samsung, South Korea's largest company by market capitalization, up 2.6% to an eight-month intraday high of 639,000 ($645) in early Seoul trade before closing at 636,000, up 2.1%.
The move came one day after a slew of rival DRAM makers said they were aiming to raise contract prices for their DRAM chips, which stoked a stock rally across the board amid hopes for an imminent recovery in the battered chip industry.
Also, a plan to launch NAND chip-volume production at a 12-inch fabrication line will likely be pushed to the third quarter from the second, said spokeswoman Shi Hyun Lee. NAND chips are used in consumer-electronics devices such as MP3 players and digital cameras.
"Our investment in the M11 [production] line is being delayed because of the poor global NAND market," she said, adding that the delay and line shutdown will likely help reduce the global NAND market's output by 5% this year.
Hynix is the world's third-largest NAND chip maker by revenue after Samsung Electronics Co. and Toshiba Corp. NAND chips accounted for 40% of the company's total revenue at the end of 2007.
Lee Sun-Tae, an analyst at Meritz Securities, said: "This is good news for its rivals and the NAND market....For Hynix, this will mean a reduced market share."
Hynix had planned to begin volume production of NAND chips at the 12-inch-wafer M11 line at a plant in Cheongju in the second quarter. The new line will gradually be ramped up to have a monthly output capacity of more than 130,000 units of 12-inch wafers, the company said in January.
Its M9 line, which the company Tuesday said would be shut in the third quarter, had a monthly output capacity of 150,000 units of 8-inch wafers at the end of 2007. But output was gradually lowered to 120,000 units in the first quarter of this year, according to Meritz Securities.
James Chung, a spokesman at Samsung Electronics, declined to comment when asked if the company plans to adjust its NAND chip output to counter falling chip prices.
NAND prices have remained at record lows since late 2007 because of weaker-than-expected demand for the chips.
Separately, Samsung Electronics said it is seeking a single-digit percentage point increase this month in prices of dynamic random access memory chips it sells to clients. DRAM chips are used in personal computers.
"DRAM prices being well below costs, we are considering a slight upward adjustment of our contract prices for April," Woosik Chu, executive vice president of Samsung's investor relations division, said in an interview. "However, market condition as of yet does not warrant a significant hike at this point."
The news pushed shares in Samsung, South Korea's largest company by market capitalization, up 2.6% to an eight-month intraday high of 639,000 ($645) in early Seoul trade before closing at 636,000, up 2.1%.
The move came one day after a slew of rival DRAM makers said they were aiming to raise contract prices for their DRAM chips, which stoked a stock rally across the board amid hopes for an imminent recovery in the battered chip industry.
