NEC Electronics to idle chip plants longer than first planned

December 28, 2004 – NEC Electronics Corp. will add a few more days to its scheduled shutdowns of chip-making factories during the year-end and New Year holidays in light of a slowdown in demand for some chips, said the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

The factories to be idled longer than originally expected “produce chips whose markets are weak” such as liquid crystal display driver chips and memory chips used in phone handsets, an NEC Electronics spokesman said Monday.

The Japanese semiconductor maker said it will suspend manufacturing lines at its two factories in Kumamoto Prefecture, southern Japan, and Shiga Prefecture, central Japan, for about one week during the holiday period, which is two to three days more than earlier planned.

The move by the NEC Corp. subsidiary comes as signs of a weakening in demand for some chips used in digital consumer electronics and mobile phones has emerged.
Toshiba Corp. has said it will operate its semiconductor plants in Japan over the holiday season generally the same as last year.

Renesas Technology Corp. will halt operations at its domestic factories for two to seven days during the holiday period between Dec. 29 and Jan. 4, which a company spokeswoman said is “normal” compared with situations in past years.

Renesas is a chip joint venture between Hitachi Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp.

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