Sony says to cut back sharply on chip spending
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Sony Corp. (6758.T) will cut back on  future chip spending and may not produce advanced "cell"  microchips used in its PlayStation 3 (PS3) game gear in-house  as it seeks better returns on its investments, a senior  executive said on Tuesday.
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A glut of DRAM chips has lead some Taiwanese DRAM makers to cut back on their capital spending plans this year.
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Sony's U.S. video-game unit is cutting jobs to become more competitive, the company said Thursday, as the PlayStation 3 machine struggles against rival offerings from Microsoft and Nintendo.
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Sony Corp. on Thursday cut its operating  profit estimate for this business year by 31 percent, citing  sharply falling prices of televisions, DVD recorders and other  key products and weak demand for chips.
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Sony Corp. plans to cut capital expenditures at its semiconductor operations by a "large amount," a company executive said Tuesday, weeks after the electronics giant reported a drop in profits for the latest quarter.
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National Semiconductor Corp., which makes analog chips used in cell phones, computers and televisions, said Thursday it is cutting about 550 jobs, or about 6 percent of its global work force, as it copes with an inventory buildup and lower demand.
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Price cuts for the PlayStation 3 video game console are among the factors Sony is studying as it seeks to break even in its money-losing gaming business next fiscal year, a company executive said Wednesday.
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High performance analog chipmaker National Semiconductor today lowered its revenue guidance for its fiscal Q2. The new guidance for the quarter calls for revenues to range from $445 million to $450 million
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Just when Sony appears to have turned around its electronics business, another part of its sprawling empire &#151; video games &#151; is dragging down profits.
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Micron Technology Inc.  on Friday forecast that prices for memory chips used in consumer electronics would be down 30 percent to 40 percent this quarter from the previous one.
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TOKYO -- Price cuts for the PlayStation 3 video game console are among the factors Sony is studying as it seeks to break even in its money-losing gaming business next fiscal year, a company executive said Wednesday.
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Three more Taiwanese chip makers plan to&#160;spend significantly less money on new factories and equipment&#160;this year as a DRAM (dynamic RAM) glut and uncertainty about the global economy weigh.Lower capital spending forecasts in the chip industry are a sign the global IT industry is on edge about future demand. Analysts have expected DRAM makers to cut back on spending for a long time due to&#160;falling chip prices. Prices for mainstream DDR2 (double data rate, second generation) chips remain below production costs, and most DRAM makers have reported losses for the fourth quarter.Powerchip Semiconductor, Taiwan&#39;s largest memory chip maker, Wednesday said it plans to spend NT$35.1 billion (US$1.09 billion) on new chip factories, technology and production line equipment this year, less than half the NT$86.3 billion it spent last year.Powerchip&#39;s smaller rival on the island, ProMOS Technologies, also more than halved its projected 2008 capital spending to US$800 million, down from US$1.84 billion last year. The company also put the expansion of its fourth 12-inch factory on hold pending a rebound in the DRAM market.United Microelectronics (UMC), the world&#39;s second largest contract chip maker, forecast its 2008 capital spending at US$500 million to US$700 million, down from US$900 million last year.The company&#39;s customers have turned cautious due to global economic worries, said Jackson Hu, CEO of UMC, at an investors&#39; conference in Taipei on Wednesday. The company forecast its chip shipments will decline as much as 15 percent in the first quarter, compared to the fourth quarter of last year as chip demand weakens, particularly for communications chips.Global semiconductor equipment spending is forecast to fall 9.9 percent to US$40.3 billion this year, from US$44.8 billion last year, according to Gartner. The market researcher blamed over-investment by DRAM makers in 2007 for the cutback in semiconductor capital spending this year. Concerns about a U.S. economic recession have also put chip makers in a cautious mood, Gartner said in a report published early this month.&#160;
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- The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) on  Wednesday slashed its forecast for 2007 global microchip sales  growth citing a decline in the average selling prices in  several key market segments.
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As part of its cost-cutting effort, Sony may outsource PS3 chip production.
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Sony Corp. (6758.T) plans to phase out the cut-priced $499 model of its PlayStation 3 video game machine, leaving only a higher capacity $599 model for sale in the United States, the company said on Monday.
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Sony Corp. said on Friday it will  eliminate a key microchip from the European version of its  PlayStation 3 (PS3) game console, reducing production costs as  well as its compatibility with PS2 games.
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Global sales of chip equipment are expected to fall 5.2 percent next year, an industry group said Wednesday in a sharp reversal of its midyear forecast of 24 percent growth.