Taiwanese computer memory chipmakers could see significant improvement in quarterly losses in the second half of the year as they move to increase production to benefit from a strong rebound in PC demand and chip prices, market researcher DRAMeXchange Technology Inc (集邦科技) said yesterday.
Over the past two months, robust replenishing demand from PC makers has driven up the spot price of dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which bounced back 63 percent to US$1.71 per unit on Tuesday, hitting a 12-month high, while supply tightened, the Taipei-based research firm said in a report yesterday.
“In July and August, PC makers orchestrated an inventory buildup ahead of the hot buying season and prior to the sales of Microsoft Corp’s new Windows 7 operating system as the global economic crisis subsides,” DRAMeXchange said.
To match growing demand and a price rebound, local DRAM chipmakers are increasingly restoring factory utilization and production, the researcher said.
Last month, Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), the nation’s No. 2 DRAM chipmaker, improved its equipment loading rate to 77 percent, compared with 23 percent in the first quarter, DRAMeXchange said.
PRODUCTION
Overall, total production by the nation’s five major suppliers could increase to 365,000 wafers a month, up 68 percent from 217,000 at the beginning of this year, it said.
Prices could remain stable this quarter, it said.
That could provide a boost to Taiwanese companies’ revenues and help them narrow losses in the second half, DRAMeXchange said.
Rebounds in chip prices and shipments have helped local companies post the highest monthly sales for Powerchip and the nation’s top DRAM company, Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) in the past nine or 10 months, it said.
Nanya said that it could start generating cash flow this quarter on better chip prices, adding, however, that it would not start turning a profit anytime soon as prices remained well below cost level.
Nanya improved its quarterly losses to NT$6.55 billion (US$202 million) in the second quarter, from NT$10.51 billion in the first quarter.
DDR2 AND DDR3
Local companies have mostly been producing DDR2 chips because they are still making substantial losses and cannot afford to purchase new equipment to make new-generation DDR3 chips.
South Korean and Japanese competitors, meanwhile, are expected to aggressively expand more capacity to produce DDR3 chips, the research house said.
The share prices of the nation’s major DRAM makers rose by between 0.5 percent and 4.75 percent yesterday, led by Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技), a joint venture between Nanya Technology and US memory chipmaker Micron Technology Inc.
ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技) shares, however, dropped 2.44 percent to NT$1.2.
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