01.12.2001
IC foundries see low visibility into 2Q01

UMC (2303 ‘Lian Dian’) announced reduction of present 0.18um processing prices, foreseeing overall utilization to slide to 85% in 1Q01. The move aims to encourage customer migration to the higher generation, and is likely to cannibalize demand for lower generation technologies later this year. UMC maintains its conservative outlook for 2Q01. Meanwhile, TSMC (2330, ‘Tai Ji Dian’) sees changes in its customer ordering patterns from previous long-term order commitments to the present situation of customers only firming orders 2-3 months in advance. As a consequence, TSMC sees low visibility of foundry demand during 2Q01.
Linda Liu