Power outages ``can cause acid leaks and other problems. A 20-hour power outage at TSMC could reduce a month's sales by 5 percent,'' said CMG's Greaton.
Analysts predict Taiwan fabrication plants will not return to normal production for months, which may further jack up DRAM prices, which have already tripled since July 1.
Taiwan's loss could be Singapore's gain with analysts predicting that Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd, which is owned by the Singaporean government entity Singapore Technologies Pte, will pick up further orders and boost its profile ahead of an IPO expected sometime in the next six months.
"The earthquake could cause some bottlenecks in the production of components,'' said John Chan, an analyst at G.K. Goh Research Pte in Singapore. ``Operationally, it could benefit Chartered assuming they have spare capacity to handle all the new projects.'' The added orders may speed up Chartered's listing plans by boosting its prospects. The company suffered during a slump in the semiconductor business in the past two years and will benefit from any extra orders.
``We send our industry colleagues our good wishes for the preservation of their businesses,'' Chartered Chief Executive Barry Waite said in a statement. "The success of individual businesses is in large part the result of our collective strength.'' Some analysts say any damage from the earthquake isn't likely to be permanent, and Chartered's IPO will be more influenced by the semiconductor industry's overall recovery.
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