Japan

09/01/1998

Japan

Yen falls further against the dollar. The Japanese yen has slipped to a seven-year low against the US dollar. Some observers are looking for a continuation of the yen`s weakening trend. This will tend to make Japanese exports, including fab equipment, less expensive, while making it harder for Japan-based chipmakers to buy imports.

The South Korean LG Economic Research Institute is concerned that continued weakness in the Japanese yen could undermine Korea`s export price competitiveness in markets like cars and semiconductors. The Korea Herald quotes an Institute report as saying that if the yen hits 150 to the dollar, Korea`s price advantage will be almost completely eroded. A particular concern is that Japanese chipmakers could expand output to take advantage of the situation and boost exports at the expense of Korean counterparts.

After 12 years in the wafer-making business, Japan`s Showa Denko KK is calling off its plans to build a volume wafer manufacturing plant, and is exiting the market altogether. The company had been developing silicon wafers since 1986. Its current production line, with a capacity of 100,000 wafers/month, will be discontinued.

Japan`s Innotech Corp., a distributor of semiconductor production systems, test and design tools, and related products, will provide sales, implementation, application, and customer support for Triant Technologies Inc., Vancouver, Canada. Innotech will exclusively distribute Triant`s ModelWare/RT software into the Japanese semiconductor, flat panel display, and disk drive markets. Innotech will also ensure that ModelWare/RT meets the specific requirements of the Japanese marketplace.