Nanya forecasts Q2 loss

MAJOR TAIWANESE memory firm Nanya confirmed reports in the local press yesterday and said it was likely to face a loss unless the two remaining weeks of June sees a huge upturn in sales of chips.

But market prices for memory parts remain in the doldrums and it's unlikely that any such miracles will happen.

Last quarter Nanya, which is an arm of giant conglomerate Formosa Plastics, turned in a profit in excess of $43 million.

As we reported yesterday, Nanya is by no means alone. It makes popular double data rate (DDR) memory chips and if its sales are poor, then major manufacturers - the so called Dramurai such as Samsung, Hynix and Micron - are likely to be suffering badly too.

The memory manufacturers have tried every trick in the book during the second quarter to give the market a boost but so far all of their ploys have failed to deliver.

Memory chips are a commodity and are traded in the spot, or broker market, as well as the contract market - where the semiconductors are sold directly to PC manufacturers.

But demand for PCs also remains in the doldrums and while the third quarter is always better than the second quarter, many observers wonder if this will be buoyant as the industry hopes.

Bloomberg quoted company chairman Charles Kau as saying he didn't think there would be a big increase in corporate sales of PCs during the second half. µ

See Also
Continuous memory chip coverage