Taiwan stocks tumble on first SARS case in winter
Taiwan's Center for Disease Control (CDC) this morning confirmed the first SARS case since the World Health Organization (WHO) stopped publishing daily numbers for SARS cases in Taiwan on July 14. The TAIEX index tumbled 135.22 points to close at 5752.01. The CDC said that the patient is a 44-year-old male researcher working at the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Taipei. The institute is under the National Defense University and sponsored by the National Science Council (NSC). The researcher had been studying SARS at Taiwan's only P4 laboratory, and the laboratory is suspected to be the infection source. However, further investigation is required.
VIA and SiS likely to decline 20% in December
Chipset vendors VIA Technologies and Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) are likely to see 20% sequential revenue declines in December, hurt by Intel's continued dominance of the Pentium 4 chipset market and the wrapping up of shipments for the Christmas shopping season. Despite its aggressive price cuts on P4 chipsets, VIA's low ASPs (average selling prices) may not help its revenues, local investment analysts said. According to an estimate from a local motherboard maker, VIA's December revenues are likely to drop by 20% compared with NT$1.657 billion revenues in November. In reply to the estimate, VIA said it is still finalizing its December revenues. SiS said it is likely to generate NT$1 billion in revenues in December, a dip of 29% from NT$1.416 billion in November.
DDR downtrend remains, SDRAM up in spot market
The DDR pricing downtrend continued last week while strong forecasts for consumer electronics shipments helped SDRAM prices pick up steam in the spot market, according to DRAMeXchange.
Sluggish demand further weakened DDR spot prices last week. Spot prices for 256Mbit (32Mbit×8) DDR266/333/400MHz dropped 3.3%, 3.6% and 2.9%, respectively. Untested (UTT) chips of the same density were quoted at US$3.40-3.45 on December 16, according to DRAMeXchange. They project the current downtrend will stay unchanged because of seasonal weak demand and PC budget concerns. PC OEMs traditionally limit DRAM cost to 5-10% per PC cost. PC OEMs have reduced memory content per PC since August to cope with the rising cost of other components such as LCD panels and flash memory.
SDRAM spot prices gained strength last week as demand - especially for 16Mbit (1Mbit×16) and 64Mbit (4Mbit×16) chips - began to grow in line with a solid shipment forecast for consumer electronics devices such as DSCs (digital still cameras) and STBs (set-top boxes). According to a DRAMeXchange survey, certain DRAM makers already have plans to increase SDRAM output in 2004. The allocation, however, will depend on market demand and total output to the market then.
DRAMeXchange expects contract price negotiations between the two parties may take longer than expected, as the price expectation of the two sides remains wide. In last week's update, DRAMeXchange projected contract prices would drop 2-3% for the second half of December. However, most DRAM makers expect the price to slip 1-2% versus PC OEMs' expectation of a 3-4% slip or more.
VIA claims to be first to ship IGP chipset for Athlon 64
VIA Technologies yesterday announced the immediate availability of the K8M800 chipset, claiming that it is the world's first integrated core-logic solution supporting Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 and Opteron processors to enter mass production.
Taiwan-based Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) unveiled its SiS760 integrated chipset, supporting the same platform, in September.
Motherboards using the K8M800 chipset are expected to be on store shelves in the first quarter. Companies that have announced support for the chipset include Asustek Computer, Biostar Microtech International, Chaintech Computer, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), First International Computer (FIC), Gigabyte Technology, Jetway Information, Mitac Group, Micro-Star International (MSI), Shuttle and Wistron.
The K8M800 is based on the architecture and technology first implemented in the K8T800 chipset and features the new UniChrome Pro IGP. The low power and low heat design encourage a new generation of innovative, small form factor devices, as well as affordable desktop PCs, based on the AMD Athlon 64 processor. VIA's Hyper8 technology provides the industry's fastest 16-bit/1.6GHz implementation of the HyperTransport link between processor and chipset, ensuring all AMD Athlon 64 and Opteron processor-based systems achieve their full performance potential, according to VIA. The K8M800's UniChrome Pro IGP delivers integrated graphics performance, featuring a dual pixel pipeline and 128-bit 2D/3D engine with support for up to 64MB of shared DDR memory for 3D gaming and applications, while integrated MPEG-2 hardware acceleration delivers digital video playback and a rich visual experience. Furthermore, support for an external AGP 8x port allows for optional graphic card upgrades. In combination with the VT8237 south bridge chip, the K8M800 provides a comprehensive range of integrated storage, multimedia and connectivity options, including native Serial ATA (SATA)/RAID, as well as support for VIA Vinyl Audio and Gigabit Ethernet through the VIA Velocity controller.
MSI to sell AMD-platform Mega PC mini-barebone in January
Micro-Star International (MSI) will begin selling the Mega 180, a mini-barebone system supporting the Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon XP processor, in January.
The Mega 180, currently on display at the IT Month exhibition in Taipei, is a combination of PC, stereo, MP3 player and DVD/VCD player. In addition to an AMD Athlon XP processor, the Mega 180 features an Nvidia nForce 2 integrated chipset, an LCM panel and a radio tuner. For accessories, MSI offers a remote control, speakers, wireless mouse and keyboard, and an AM/FM antenna.
MSI introduced its first Mega PC-branded mini-barebone system (the Mega 651) early this year. The motherboard maker never marketed the Mega 651, which supports the Pentium 4 platform, under its brand. Instead, it shipped the barebone systems to BenQ and Synnex Technology International, which sell the product under their brands with the "Enjoyment Center PC" and "iMEL" names, respectively.
The company plans to launch a third Mega PC mini-barebone system in the second quarter of next year. The model will support the K8 platform (AMD Athlon 64). MSI will sell the Mega 180 under the "MSI Mega PC" brand worldwide in January. Suggested retailed price for the case and motherboard is NT$13,000 (about US$382).
S3 signs distribution pact with Club-3D Holland
S3 Graphics today announced that Club-3D, an in Hoofddorp The Netherlands-based graphics card vendor, will sell graphics cards powered by its DeltaChrome graphics processor. The DeltaChrome based Club-3D graphics card will be available online and in leading electronic retail stores in Europe early in the first quarter, the company said in a statement. The suggested retail price for the 256MB model is 155 euros.
S3 introduced the DeltaChrome line on March 13. The desktop-use graphics chips support DirectX 9 and come in three configurations. Club-3D also sells graphics cards using chip solutions from XGI Technology. S3 is a joint venture between VIA Technologies and Sonicblue (formerly S3).
Taiwan to ship more than one million LCD TVs in 2004
Taiwan-based Teco Electric & Machinery and Proton Electronic Industrial expect Taiwanese companies to ship more than one million LCD TVs in 2004, according to sources. Teco, Proton and the Sampo group alone have said they plan to ship 500,000, 100,000 and 200,000 LCD TVs, respectively, in 2004.
Teco will release 17-, 23-, 32- and 40-inch LCD TVs in the first quarter of next year and 37-, 42-, 46-and 47-inch LCD TVs in the second quarter. It expects its plant in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province (China) to begin volume production by February, with a maximum annual capacity of 200,000 units.
Proton will release a 30-inch LCD TV in January. Sampo expects its Kunshan, Jiangsu Province plant to ship 70,000-100,000 LCD TVs in 2004.
Sony to stop DVD burner production
Sony, one of the world's top three manufacturers of DVD burners, will phase out production of DVD burners beginning with 8x models and instead seek OEM production in Taiwan, according to Taiwanese makers of optical disc drives.
Sony, Pioneer, NEC, and Toshiba as well as South Korean makers dominated the global production of DVD burners early this year. Several Taiwanese companies, including Lite-On IT, BenQ, Quanta Storage, Behavior Tech Computer, Asustek Computer and Accesstek, entered the market beginning in the second quarter. The participation by Taiwanese makers has resulted in price competition, causing a drop in OEM prices of DVD Dual burners from US$170-180 per unit to US$120-130 currently, Taiwanese makers indicated. The OEM prices of DVD+RW models have even fallen to below US$100.
Under the price pressure, Sony has decided to halt its production of 8x DVD burners and models of higher speeds and then place OEM orders with Taiwanese companies. Lite-On IT, due to its close relationship with Sony, is the most likely to be Sony's partner, Taiwanese makers pointed out.
Lite-On IT expects to deliver five million to six million DVD burners of various types this year, soaring from the one million units shipped last year, according to the company's Optical Disc Business general manager Michael Gong.
According to Japan-based Techno Systems Research (TSR), NEC, Pioneer, Sony and Toshiba were the world's top four suppliers of DVD burners during the first three quarters of this year, recording respective global market shares of 25%, 19%, 13% and 10%.
First-tier mobo, graphics card, notebook shipments
Asustek Computer, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), Micro-Star International (MSI) and Gigabyte Technology announced their November shipments of motherboards, graphics cards and notebooks yesterday. Motherboard shipments from the four first-tier makers dropped 11.3% sequentially to 7.35 million units last month, as shipments for the upcoming Christmas holidays reached the end. All but ECS reported motherboard shipment declines in November.
Centrino 802.11g module to enter volume production
Intel will begin volume production of 802.11g modules for Centrino notebooks at year-end, according to Ray Wu, Intel Communications Group Asia Pacific marketing manager. The modules will use Intel's second-generation Calexico wireless chipset solution, which bundles two chips, instead of its first-generation Calexico chipset, which has four chips, said Wu. When Intel debuted the Centrino mobile platform solution last March, newly launched Centrino notebooks featured an 802.11b WLAN module. The company introduced 802.11a/b modules for the Centrino platform in the third quarter. According to Wu, Intel plans to launch 802.11a/b/g modules in mid-2004, and the modules will continue to use Intel's second-generation Calexico chipset.
Cher Wang: D-Link agrees, a misunderstanding
Cher Wang, chairwoman of VIA Technologies, made her first public appearance yesterday evening after being accused of conspiring to illegally obtain D-Link test code by sending VIA employee Jeffrey Chang to work at D-Link. At the press conference, Wang made an announcement authorized by D-Link, saying both companies agreed that this was a misunderstanding resulting from communication problems.
Wang acknowledged that VIA did have some flaws in dealing with the incident in the beginning. If VIA spent more time communicating with D-Link early on, things may not have turned out like this, she added. The Taipei District Public Prosecutors Office on December 6 charged Cher Wang, her husband Chen Wen-chi (president of VIA) and Jeffrey Chang with copyright infringement and industrial espionage.
Apple to launch 'New iMac' desktops
The next generation of the "New iMac" that Apple Computer is going to launch in the first quarter of next year will have a magnesium-alloy case and a high proportion of plastic parts for cost reduction, according to sources in Taiwan's IT industry. Apple uses a stainless steel and zinc alloy to manufacture its current generation of New iMacs. The sources said Apple was forced to modify its strategy as sales of the New iMac desktops have been lackluster due to higher prices. Apple has sold just over one million New iMacs since the first model hit the market in January 2002. However, the company sold over three millions units of its first-generation iMac in three years.
Apple in September suspended a plan to integrate a Tablet PC and DeskNote into a new line of products, dubbed the "New New iMac," due to cost considerations. The company has now decided to adopt less expensive materials to manufacture the new generation of the New iMac to attain a more competitive cost.
The first model of New iMac using a magnesium-alloy case will come with a 20-inch LCD display and is expected to hit the market in January or February. Apple will outsource production of the New iMac to Taiwan-based Quanta Computer, which will manufacture the machines in Songjiang, China.
Shuttle XPC shipments to exceed 55,000
Shuttle, which shipped a record 55,000 XPC small form factor PCs in November, expects to set a new record this month, boosted by strong demand from the clone markets in Europe and Japan. Shuttle shipped 480,300 XPCs in the first 11 months of this year.