The Ministry of Economic Affairs is reviewing several consolidation scenarios for manufacturers of computer memory or dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) said last night.
“Every scenario has its advantages and disadvantages. Hence we are evaluating all possible options, as well as contacting local companies to get buy-ins,” Yiin said.
After all, he said it is the companies that must partner up, the ministry cannot force alliances.
After polling individual market players, the idea of consolidating all local DRAM makers into one giant company was off the boards, Yiin said.
“Such an arrangement would be an utter catastrophe,” he said.
His evening briefing followed a morning meeting with Yukio Sakamoto, president and chief executive officer of Japan’s Elpida Memory Inc, amid media reports that the government would support a consolidation proposal submitted by Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技) and Micron Technology Inc of the US.
Yiin did not confirm the newspaper reports, but said he had a lengthy discussion with Sakamoto on the status of the industry and individual companies in the US, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
Yiin said Sakamoto wanted to tell him that Japan’s state bailout funds would not be enough to rescue his firm. Elpida was keen on securing Taiwanese funding and was willing to cooperate with the government on any level, Yiin said.
In an e-mail to the Taipei Times yesterday, Elpida spokesperson Kumi Higuchi confirmed that the company’s president was in Taipei.
But she denied a report in the Nikkei Shimbun yesterday that Elpida was about to “sign a basic agreement with the Taiwanese companies today” including Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體) and Rexchip Electronics Co (瑞晶半導體).
Powerchip vice president and spokesman Eric Tang (譚仲民) also dismissed the consolidation report on Radio Taiwan International yesterday.
“Powerchip and Elpida have not reached a consensus since their negotiation last month. Hence such suggestions of potential strategic consolidation is pure speculation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子) chief financial officer James Wen (溫堅) said by telephone yesterday that the company was interested in participating in government-led consolidation plans, be it a camp backed by Elpida or Micron’s technology.
While Elpida hopes to tap on Taiwan’s National Development Fund (國發基金) for help, Yiin said NT$30 billion (US$883.3 million) of the fund’s NT$100 billion is already allocated to helping small businesses.
Whether the entire remaining NT$70 billion would be used to save the domestic DRAM industry had not been decided, he said.
“One thing is for sure. NT$70 billion will not be enough to save our DRAM industry,” he said.
The ministry also confirmed yesterday that it had received the consolidation plan proposed by Nanya, Inotera and Micron last Friday. Yiin said he had met with representatives from Micron since then and the Industrial Development Bureau was reviewing the proposal.
“This question we have to ask ourselves is: Do we need this industry? And the answer is yes. DRAM is a money-burning industry and for individual companies the barriers for entry and exit are high,” Yiin said.
“Too many downstream technology companies will be affected if we let the DRAM industry fail. The consequences would be unthinkable,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KEVEN CHEN AND LISA WANG
Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽) shares surged to a seven-month high this week after local media reported that E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) had outbid CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) in the financially strained insurer’s ongoing sale process. Shares of the mid-sized life insurer climbed 5.8 percent this week to NT$6.72, extending a nearly 18 percent rally over the past month, as investors bet on the likelihood of an impending takeover. The final round of bidding closed on Thursday, marking a critical step in the 32-year-old insurer’s search for a buyer after years of struggling to meet capital adequacy requirements. Local media reports
US sports leagues rushed to get in on the multi-billion US dollar bonanza of legalized betting, but the arrest of an National Basketball Association (NBA) coach and player in two sprawling US federal investigations show the potential cost of partnering with the gambling industry. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and an NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested for his alleged role in rigged illegal poker games that prosecutors say were tied to Mafia crime families. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was charged with manipulating his play for the benefit of bettors and former NBA player and
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
RSS