Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), the nation's largest maker of computer memory, rose by the daily limit on the market yesterday, leading shares of memory-chip makers higher after Asia's biggest spot market for chips predicted prices would rise.
Powerchip, Taiwan's biggest maker of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, rose by 6.9 percent to close at NT$13.20, its largest gain since October 2004. Nanya Technology Co (南亞科技), the nation's second-largest memory-chip maker, and Elpida Memory Inc, the biggest in Japan, also advanced.
Benchmark 512-megabit DRAM prices rose 1.1 percent, Dramexchange Technology Inc (
"A probable price rebound has finally appeared," Dramexchange wrote in a report dated Tuesday.
"This comes in the wake of manufacturers adjusting their production plans based on the changing market conditions," it said.
Makers of the chips expanded capacity last year in anticipation of strong demand spurred by the introduction of Microsoft Corp's Windows Vista operating system, which requires more DRAM for computers to function.
Sales of Vista failed to meet expectations this year, analysts said.
"They were too optimistic on Vista," said Joyce Yang (楊雅欣), an analyst at Dramexchange in Taipei.
"DRAM makers knew there'd be oversupply, but no one dared cut supply for fear of losing market share," she said.
Nanya shares climbed 6.8 percent, its daily limit, to NT$18.85 in Taipei trading, beating the 0.3 percent advance for the benchmark TAIEX index.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure
RSS