Asia DRAM Report: Infineon Deal Extends Unique Strategy
--Infineon Technologies AG's (IFX) latest oursourcing deal should help end speculation that the giant German chipmaker might exit the cutthroat dynamic random access memory chip business after the recent resignation of its controversial chief executive. The deal, announced last week with Taiwan's Winbond Electronics Corp. (2344.TW), was a bold reaffirmation of the outsourcing strategy that some say contributed to the discontent aroused by former Chief Executive Ulrich Schumacher. It shows Infineon is extending his practice of using other companies to manufacture the memory chips it sells, paying largely with technology instead of cash. The strategy, unique in the DRAM industry, has enabled Infineon to remain competitive while diminishing the risks of owning expensive chip factories. Schumacher, resigned his post abruptly in March after clashing with board members and German labor unions. Part of the trouble, industry sources say, stemmed from frustration with Schumacher's outsourcing, primarily to Taiwan and China, a strategy some feared also resulted in the export of high-quality jobs from Germany. Infineon was just one of many DRAM makers searching for ways to stay afloat amid a severe, three-year downturn. A number of DRAM companies made plans to leave the industry after losses piled up along with costs. New memory-chip factories cost up to US$2.2 billion, making downturns tough to weather. The new deal, like agreements Infineon already has with Nanya Technology Corp. (2408.TW) of Taiwan and China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMI), will provide the know-how to help Winbond build a state-of-the-art semiconductor plant in return for a portion of the plant's production. Meanwhile, Infineon also has been upgrading an advanced factory based in Dresden to produce higher-end products. Farming out the manufacture of riskier DRAM to companies willing to help share the cost of technology development for a portion of their output is considered a savvy move by some. 'This is a real agreement, it signifies that nothing dramatic is going to change in the way Infineon does business in the DRAM industry,' said Andrew Norwood, principal analyst for Gartner's semiconductor research group in London. He said the company has been upgrading a semiconductor plant in Germany to produce more higher-margin logic chips, though it will likely continue to produce DRAM at the factory. Infineon hopes the deal will help it grab 25% of the roughly US$18 billion global DRAM market, according to Ralph Heinrich, a senior corporate communications manager at Infineon. Such a share would propel the company to second place in the DRAM industry behind market leader Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE) of South Korea. Winbond has said the new plant ultimately will cost around NT$85 billion (US$1=NT$34.106) by the time it is finished. The Taiwanese chipmaker expects to foot the bill for the entire plant and trade a portion of its production for Infineon's technological know-how. To be sure, at least one danger faced by the new project is that it will start production in 2006, a time when some analysts predict chips could be in oversupply, which would send chip prices plummeting. A number of DRAM makers have announced plans to build new chip factories amid an upturn in the business and many of them will come online by the end of next year. But although some companies may curtail projects if chip prices fall, the fight to survive in the DRAM industry depends largely on size - since the more chips a company churns out, the lower the cost per chip. That's why new strategies like Infineon's are so important. Less exposure to the high cost of new plants should help the company weather the next downturn. Table Of Average Weekly DRAM Spot Prices 9 Aug 2 Aug 26 July 19 July 12 July 128Mb SDRAM - $4.23 $4.25 $4.28 $4.23 $4.17 256Mb SDRAM - $4.37 $4.41 $4.35 $4.36 $4.45 128Mb DDR-266 - $3.11 $3.12 $3.06 $2.94 $2.84 128Mb DDR-333 - $3.16 $3.14 $3.07 $2.95 $2.86 256Mb DDR-266 - $4.31 $4.49 $4.66 $4.70 $4.83 256Mb DDR-333 - $4.30 $4.49 $4.67 $4.71 $4.80 256Mb DDR-400- $4.42 $4.60 $4.73 $4.75 $4.86 Sources - brokers, module makers, DRAMeXchange Note: Prices in this table represent the average for the entire week, not for a single day
特写：英飞凌继续沿用独一无二的外包策略
德国晶片生产巨头英飞凌科技公司(Infineon Technologies AG, IFX)最新的外包交易应当使该公司可能退出竞争激烈的DRAM晶片业务的传言不攻自破。这类传言是公司备受争议的首席执行长辞职所引发的。 上周宣布的该交易是与台湾华邦电子(Winbond Electronics Corp., 2344.TW)达成的，它有力地肯定了英飞凌的外包策略。一些人士称，该策略是公司前首席执行长舒马克(Ulrich Schumacher)招致董事和员工不满的原因所在。 该交易表明，英飞凌在继续沿用舒马克利用其他公司来生产所售存储晶片、主要以技术而不是现金支付外包费用的做法。该策略在DRAM行业中是独一无二的，它使得英飞凌在保持竞争力的同时消除了拥有造价高昂的晶片生产厂所蕴含的风险。 舒马克3月份在与董事会成员和德国工会发生冲突后突然辞职。业内消息人士称，部分问题来自人们对其外包策略（主要外包给台湾和中国大陆的企业）的不满，一些人担心这还导致了德国高科技岗位的流失。 英飞凌只是在DRAM行业持续叁年的严重低迷期间想方设法求生的众多生产商之一。在成本和亏损额日益增大的形势下，许多企业计划撤出这一行业。新建存储晶片工厂造价高昂，最高可达22亿美元，因而在行业萧条时很难度过难关。 根据新的外包交易，英飞凌将向华邦电子提供技术，帮助它建造一座一流的半导体生产厂，条件是把部分产品外包给该厂生产。此前，英飞凌已经与台湾南亚科技(Nanya Technology Corp., 2408.TW)和大陆的中芯国际(Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., SMI)签署了类似的外包协议。 同时，英飞凌还一直在对德累斯顿的一家生产厂进行改造，以生产更高端产品。 部分人士认为，将风险更大的DRAM生产业务外包给那些愿意分担科技开发成本的企业，让其代为加工产品的举动是一种明智的做法。 Gartner伦敦半导体研究小组的首席分析师诺伍德(Andrew Norwood)说，这是一笔有重要意义的交易，它表明没有什麽东西能骤然改变英飞凌在DRAM行业中的经营方式。 他说，该公司一直在升级改造一家德国的半导体工厂，以生产利润率更高的逻辑晶片，不过该厂可能还会继续生产DRAM晶片。 英飞凌负责企业联络事务的高级经理汉利克(Ralph Heinrich)表示，公司希望该交易帮助其在全球180亿美元的DRAM市场中占据25%的份额，成为仅次于市场领头羊韩国叁星电子(Samsung Electronics Co., 005930.SE)的DRAM行业第二大公司。 华邦电子表示，新厂完工时的最终成本将在新台币850亿元（1美元=新台币34.106元）左右。 这家台湾晶片厂商预计将承担建厂的全部成本，以一部分产量来换取英飞凌的专有技术。 毫无疑问，新项目面临的风险之一是它将于2006年投产，分析师预计届时晶片市场可能出现供应过剩局面，导致晶片价格重挫。许多DRAM厂商已在业务反弹之际宣布了建造新厂的计划，很多新厂将在明年年底前投入使用。 但是，尽管一些公司可能会在晶片价格下跌时缩减项目，DRAM行业的生存竞争还是主要取决于公司规模，因为一家公司生产的晶片越多，每只晶片的成本就越低。 这就是为什麽英飞凌这类的新策略会显得如此重要，规避建造新厂的高成本将有助于公司经受住下一轮行业危机的考验。
