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.
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
Protectionism: US trade chief Katherine Tai said the hikes would help to counter unfair trade practices from China, while boosting domestic clean energy investments US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) defended stiff tariff hikes against countries such as China, saying that paired with investment, they were a “legitimate and constructive” tool for reinvigorating domestic industries. Tai’s comments come a week after sharp tariff increases on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), EV batteries and solar cells took effect — with levies down the line on other products also recently finalized. The latest moves targeting US$18 billion in Chinese goods come weeks before next month’s US presidential election, with Democrats and Republicans pushing a hard line on China as competition between Washington and Beijing intensifies. In an interview on Thursday
RSS