chipmakers

TSMC was one of the first big chipmakers to restore investment plans that had been curtailed by the downturn, and is expanding its R&D team.

The combined net debt of the five listed chipmakers is now three times bigger than their aggregate market capitalisation.

But some analysts warned the recovery might be short-lived as chipmakers start investing again.

However welcome the recovery has been for Taiwan's beleaguered chipmakers, delaying an industry reshuffle would be short-sighted.

Taiwanese chipmakers' margins have outperformed those of their overseas rivals in previous upswings.

Silicon producers, whose biggest customers were always chipmakers, have been slow to cater to the solar industry.

Morgan Stanley yesterday named ARM as one of its top picks for chipmakers in 2011.

Dr Grove thinks pharmaceutical firms should study chipmakers to accelerate learning and innovation.

The flip side is that chipmakers have come to depend increasingly on the health of the rest of the economy.

Dr Grove still believes in Moore's law (with the caveat that it will get ever pricier for chipmakers to uphold) but he has a grave concern.

For Taiwan's memory chipmakers, however, the outlook could not be clearer: a bloated industry must shrink.

Chipmakers are in a better position than solar panel makers as many have long-term contracts at fixed prices to ensure supplies.

TSMC also illustrates a corollary of Moore's Second Law: even the biggest chipmakers must keep expanding.

As chipmakers compete to develop ever-smaller chips at cheaper prices, designers are struggling to cut costs.

To reach the economies of scale needed to make such investments pay, chipmakers must build bigger fabs.

The down-cycle has squeezed several memory chipmakers so badly that they are struggling to raise funds needed as working capital.

Heading into this year, chipmakers were in trouble.

Chipmakers have mothballed excess capacity.

And since 2004 the profitability of chip firms has dropped steadily as many chipmakers have lowered prices to expand their markets.

Changes in the technology sector have typically been good news for Taiwan's chipmakers.

EETimes extends this concern to chipmakers saying that Intel isn't getting a fair shake.

The ministry said all other chipmakers were also free to apply for approval.

Retailers, chipmakers and firms in many other industries may have a long wait before the economic fog finally lifts.

Chipmakers Post Strong Results in 2004, Memory Market Rise Again