By Taiga Uranaka and Noriyuki Hirata
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world's No. 2 maker of NAND flash memory, said on Thursday that NAND prices could pick up in the July-September quarter, as demand from PC and more sophisticated mobile phones increases.
Toshiba, whose semiconductor business posted an annual 80 percent decline in operating profit in January-March as NAND prices collapsed, said it expects price of NAND chips, used in portable gadgets like Apple Inc's (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) iPod, to be flat this quarter.
"Prices will either be flat or go up a bit in July-September," Toshiba Corporate Senior Vice President Shozo Saito told the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit.
He said demand for Toshiba's high-capacity flash memory chips was strong, adding that the company was currently receiving orders for about 5 percent more than it could supply, and that this gap would likely expand to about 10 percent in the July-September quarter.
Even though prices are stabilizing, to be safe, the company is still prepared for a drop of up to 50 percent this business year, Saito said.
"The past data shows an average 50 percent annual decline, and we should be ready for that," he said. "And we will keep profit margin by cutting costs by 50 percent and more."
If prices fall further, Saito said the chip maker would curb plans to up output.
He said it was possible that the company would initially start production at only one of two NAND factories it is planning to build in 2010. Continued...
© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved.
| Paper | Aug 20 - 21, 2008 | Manufacturing |
| Japan Investment | Jul 01 - 2, 2008 | Country Summits |
| Global Real Estate | Jun 23 - 25, 2008 | Real Estate |
| Consumer and Retail | Jun 16 - 18, 2008 | Consumer Retail |
| Investment Outlook | Jun 09 - 12, 2008 | Financial Services / Exchanges |
