Taiwan IC, PC results point to slowdown
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Based on some key indicators fromTaiwan'schipand PC houses, the signs in the IC industry are goingfrom badtoworse. ASE, Global Unichip, UMC and others postedlacklustersalesfigures for August. Taiwan PC assemblers Compal,Wistron andothersreported mixed results in the channels.
But that's not what the doctor ordered amid aslump--andoverallslowdown--in the IC sector. Recently, for example,GartnerInc.lowered its IC forecast in 2008 and 2009.
In one indicator, Taiwan foundry providerUnitedMicroelectronicsCorp. (UMC) reported net sales of NT$8.165billion($256 million)for the month of August, down 21.74 percentfrom ayear ago and down4.35 percent from July of 2008.
Taiwan chip-packaging giant AdvancedSemiconductorEngineeringInc. (ASE) reported net revenues ofNT$8.781 billion($275.4million) for August, up only 0.8 percentfrom July of 2008but down6.5 percent from a year ago.
Not all was doom-and-gloom in Taiwan. ASIC providerGlobalUnichipCorp. said its August revenues were up 7 pecent fromJuly2008 and up37 percent over last year.
On the PC front, the signs are mixed among Taiwan'sODMgiants,such as Quanta Computer. Quanta makes notebook PCs on anOEMbasisfor many PC makers.
''Sluggish corporate notebook PC markets in bothNorthAmericanand Europe negatively impacted Compal's shipments,offsetbygrowing consumer notebook in Eastern Europeanandemergingmarkets,'' said Daniel Amir, an analyst at LazardCapitalMarkets,in a report.
''Despite weaker-than-expected European markets,Quantamaintainsits full year 40 million notebook shipments guidance(26percentincrease over 2007), as the demand from emergingmarketsremainssolid,'' Amir said.
''August shipments were flat or slightly up versusJuly.Weforecast 10 percent growth month/month in September,following a3percent increase in August and 20 percentquarter/quartergrowthboth in 3Q and 4Q,'' he added.
Another Taiwan PC assembler, Wistron, ''raised its3Qshipmentsestimate to 5.8 million from 5.4 million,25percentquarter/quarter,'' he said. ''Wistron is tracking aheadoftheindustry average, as it is gaining market share fromothernotebookODMs.''
Posted by EE Times
Web: www.wwteq.com
EMS: http://www.wwteq.com/wwteq_Category_2068177_1.html