Elpida Memory Inc, Japan's largest maker of memory chips used in computers and electronics, raised its projected market share to 20 percent from its previous forecast of 15 percent in the fiscal year starting April 2006.
President Yukio Sakamoto, 57, made the forecast at the company's chip plant in Hiroshima, Japan, saying he expects demand for personal computers and consumer digital electronics may start rising in February.
He said the company currently has an 8 percent share of the market for dynamic random access memory (DRAM).
The Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, and soccer's World Cup tournament in summer 2006 will likely drive up demand for digital cameras, DVD recorders and other equipment that uses chips Elpida makes, Sakamoto said.
Elpida is raising capital investment and increasing production to counter price declines for chips that contain more circuits.
The company last month cut its full-year profit forecast to between ?5 billion (US$42 million) and ?10 billion , from an earlier estimate of ?14 billion, citing costs of starting a new production line and falling prices.
Elpida ranked fifth in the global DRAM market as of the three months ended June 30, according to market researcher iSuppli Corp. Samsung Electronics Co dominates the market with more than a third of total revenue.
Elpida last month raised capital investment for this year to ?190 billion from its April forecast of ?143.6 billion to increase production of 90 nanometer chips. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter and measures the distance between transistors in a chip.
consolidation
Sakamoto today predicted competition will drive one or more of its rivals out of business.
He spoke at a ceremony marking the opening of the 300mm wafer production line at its Hiroshima factory, which uses 90-nanometer technology.
"Looking into the future, one or two companies will drop out from the industry," Sakamoto said.
"The winners will be determined by who can and cannot make 90 nanometer chips," he said.
For the year ending March 2006, Elpida expects sales to be between ?240 billion and ?250 billion, compared with an earlier estimate of ?260 billion, citing a bigger-than-expected decline in chip prices and a production delay in its 90-nanometer and 100-nanometer chips.
The chips are outsourced to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯), China's biggest made-to-order chip supplier.
Semiconductor Manufacturing, based in Shanghai, is expected to start producing chips for Elpida from the first quarter of 2006, Elpida said last month.
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
RSS