TAIWAN OPTIMISTIC ON DRAM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 TAIPEI 000211 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT PASS USTR DEPT FOR EAP/TC USTR FOR WINTER AND WINELAND E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2015 TAGS: EINV ETRD ECON TW SUBJECT: TAIWAN OPTIMISTIC ON DRAM REF: A. TAIPEI 343 ¶B. TAIPEI 1343 ¶C. TAIPEI 1402 ¶D. TAIPEI 1924 ¶E. TAIPEI 2743 Classified By: AIT Director Douglas H. Paal, Reason 1.4 d Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) While the outlook for Taiwan's semiconductor industry for 2006 is positive; many analysts predict a difficult year for the DRAM (dynamic random access memory) industry. However, Taiwan firms are optimistic about their prospects. They are investing heavily in advanced 12-inch manufacturing facilities, and appear likely to gain more market share in 2006. Two Taiwan DRAM producers applied to the Taiwan government for permission to invest in the PRC in late 2004, but the Taiwan government allowed the applications to expire without approval. Future investment in the PRC in semiconductor manufacturing will have to wait for additional liberalization of Taiwan's investment restrictions. This could affect U.S. firms, especially those firms that sell the semiconductor manufacturing equipment that would be required to further expand capacity. End Summary ¶2. (U) The general outlook for Taiwan's semiconductor industry in 2006 is positive. In December, Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI),a quasi- governmental agency, predicted that Taiwan's semiconductor production would grow by 10.1 percent in 2006. Although this is lower than growth during boom years, it is better than the industry's performance in 2005, which only grew by about 1.3 percent. ¶3. (U) However, many market analysts foresee a tough year for DRAM producers in 2006. This mature industry segment with many commoditized products has already seen falling prices and margins in recent years. It is now one of the least profitable semiconductor market segments with lower growth rates than other semiconductor products. Gartner Inc., a U.S. information technology industry research firm, has predicted that DRAM prices will drop 37.1 percent in 2006 and revenue will fall 5 percent. This is largely due to increased capacity as more DRAM chips are produced at 12-inch wafer fabs instead of older 8-inch fabs. The Semiconductor Industry Association predicts that the total DRAM market will decline by 10.1 percent in 2006 to USD 23 billion. ISuppli, another industry research firm, believes that average selling prices for DRAM products will drop below production costs. Taiwan Firms Still Optimistic -------------- ¶4. (C) Nevertheless, Taiwan DRAM firms are more optimistic about their prospects. A spokesman for Nanya Technology, one of Taiwan's three large DRAM producers, told the press that Nanya predicts that total production value for the industry will only fall by one or two percentage points. Similarly, ProMOS indicated that capacity increases would not be as great as analysts predict partly as some firms face difficulty converting DRAM production to more advanced 90-nanometer technology. ProMOS Chairman M.L. Chen pointed out to AIT/T that because many memory producers have converted production to NAND flash memory, DRAM capacity expansion has been limited. Market research firm CLSA has also noted that DRAM producers have benefited some from falling prices that have caused some PC manufacturers to increase the amount of DRAM memry they install in each TAIPEI 00000211 002 OF 004 unit. In one recent sign of improving prospects, EETimes, an online information technology news service, reported January 3 that due to falling production and higher-than- expected demand since November, DRAM producers have attempted to raise prices by three to five percent for many products. Facing Competition with Aggressive Expansion -------------- ¶5. (U) Taiwan firms still face strong competition from the larger Korean firms that dominate the industry. Samsung is the largest with 30.6 percent of the market in the third quarter of 2005, according to Gartner. Hynix is second with a 16.6 percent market share. Other important competitors include Micron from the United States, Infineon of Germany, and Elpida of Japan, all with more market share than any single Taiwan firm. ¶6. (U) The Taiwan firms, however, gained on their rivals in 2005 and have plans for further expansion. The three largest Taiwan firms were particularly strong in the third quarter last year growing faster than any other top-ten DRAM producers. Nanya grew the most with a 37 percent increase in sales from the previous quarter. Powerchip grew by 20 percent and ProMOS grew by 15.8 percent. Taiwan firms have been particularly aggressive at expanding production in high capacity 12-inch wafer fabs instead of less advanced 8-inch or 6-inch fabs. With 31 percent of worldwide 12-inch wafer DRAM production, they now have more capacity in 12-inch fabs than South Korea, according to a DigiTimes report. Another media report predicted that Taiwan would have 17 12-inch wafer fabs by 2010. Total capital expenditure for Taiwan DRAM producers will approach USD 3 billion in 2006 with the three largest firms, Nanya, ProMOS, and Powerchip, planning approximately USD 200 million, USD 620 million and USD 1.9 billion in expenditures, respectively. ¶7. (U) Most recently, Powerchip announced January 18 that it would buy an unfinished fab from Macronix International Co., a Taiwan flash memory producer. The fab will expand Powerchip's capacity by 35,000 wafers per month. Also this month, the Central Taiwan Science Park in Taichung announced that ProMOS plans to build two additional fabs at the park. ProMOS just inaugurated its second 12-inch fab at the park in November, which is Taiwan's first 90- nanometer DRAM fab, and plans to upgrade the technology to use 70-nanometer technology in the fourth quarter of this year. ProMOS will begin construction of the third fab this year to begin mass production in 2007. Looking West for Opportunities -------------- ¶8. (U) According to IC Insights Inc., the PRC became the world's largest market for semiconductors in 2005, consuming USD 40.8 billion worth of chips. Taiwan's DRAM producers are interested in investing in the PRC but have been prevented from doing so by the Taiwan government, despite regulations that would permit some investment. Reforms instituted in 2002 permitted Taiwan firms to build fabs in the PRC that produce chips with feature size no finer than 0.25 microns. At the time of the reforms, the Taiwan government set a quota that limited such investment to three firms. So far, only Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC),the world's largest contract chip maker or foundry, has been approved. TSMC was approved in February 2003. ¶9. (C) In the last week of 2004, ProMOS and Powerchip each applied to build semiconductor manufacturing facilities in TAIPEI 00000211 003 OF 004 the PRC. However, the Taiwan government never approved the applications submitted by ProMOS and Powerchip. The original reform set a deadline of December 31, 2005 for approval of semiconductor investment applications. On January 4, 2006, Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh indicated that the two firms had agreed not to pursue investment in the PRC for the time being. In a January 6 meeting, Powerchip Chairman Frank Huang confirmed to AIT/T that Powerchip had decided not to proceed with investment in the PRC until the Taiwan government lifted restrictions on more advanced technology. The 0.25-micron technology that was permitted is now four generations behind the most advanced semiconductor chips in production with 65- nanometer technology. ¶10. (C) ProMOS Chairman M.L. Chen, on the other hand, told AIT/T on December 14 that his firm at that time was still interested in building a manufacturing facility in the PRC even if it would be limited to 0.25-micron technology. He described how the Taiwan government had repeatedly urged ProMOS to delay submission of its application to invest in the PRC, first to wait until after the March 2004 presidential election and then to wait until after TSMC's application to expand its investment in the PRC had been processed in summer 2004. ProMOS cooperated with those requests. Taiwan officials then delayed approval of the application and have now effectively eliminated the possibility of further semiconductor manufacturing investment in the PRC under the reforms that had already been authorized. Further investment will have to wait until new liberalization measures can be approved. Close Links to U.S. Economy -------------- ¶11. (C) The semiconductor industry is highly globalized and the links between the U.S. and Taiwan are particularly strong. Taiwan firms rely heavily on U.S. suppliers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment such as Applied Materials and Lam Research. For the year ending with the third quarter of 2005, Taiwan was Applied Materials' largest market with USD 1.9 billion in sales, accounting for 25 percent of the firm's total revenue. The next largest market, North America, accounted for 20 percent of revenue for the year. There are other important links as well. ProMOS Vice President of Sales and Marketing told AIT that almost half of the firm's output is sold to U.S. firms with Dell, Kingston Technologies and HP its three largest customers. According to C.W. Chen, Investor Relations Manager at Powerchip, foreign investors, many of them American, held 32 percent of Powerchip's stock in the third quarter of 2005. Comment - Holding Back Growth -------------- ¶12. (C) Taiwan DRAM producers are eager to face the challenges of an increasingly competitive market for these less advanced semiconductor products. With aggressive investment strategies they stand to further increase Taiwan's market share in this segment. Nevertheless, Taiwan's restrictions on semiconductor manufacturing investment in the PRC, which have in effect been tightened with the expiration of earlier reforms even before President Chen's New Year's Day cold blanket speech, prevent these firms from exploiting potential advantages of producing in the Mainland. These advantages include cheaper land, lower wages, a larger labor market, and getting closer to the largest semiconductor market in the world. It is also worth noting, that if Taiwan firms hold back or limit their expansion plans due to Taiwan's restrictions, it could also have an impact on sales of U.S. TAIPEI 00000211 004 OF 004 equipment suppliers like Applied Materials and U.S. exports as well. End comment. PAAL