Infineon Technologies, Germany's largest maker of semiconductors, said the planned separation of its memory-chip division is on schedule and that the company is still pursuing an initial share sale of the unit as the preferred option.
"We can imagine proceeding faster than initially planned," said Infineon spokesman Guenter Gaugler, confirming comments made by chief executive officer Wolfgang Ziebart in an interview with Financial Times Deutschland yesterday.
JULY 1 TARGET
Last November the Munich-based Infineon announced that it was planning to make the memory-chip division a legally independent entity by July 1.
Ziebart plans to focus Infineon on more stable earnings from selling chips used in phones, cars and security cards. The memory-chip division, which is Infineon's largest, has been hurt by demand swings from customers in past years, contributing to Infineon reporting its fourth straight quarterly loss in January.
FALLING PRICES
Dynamic random access memory chips, or DRAM, are used as the main memory in personal computers. The spot price for a benchmark 256-megabit chip dropped 48 percent last year.
Getting out of the business would leave Infineon with its automotive, industrial and multimarket divisions, at which the company last month forecast business will improve in the fiscal year through September.
Ziebart is betting the retreat from the DRAM industry will help Infineon grow faster and become more profitable.
Infineon's retreat from the U$27 billion memory-chip market follows continued losses at the unit as supply outweighed demand, causing prices to drop below production costs.
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