Industry sources have noted that Elpida Memory is selling more of its DRAM in effectively tested (eTT) form, which requires lesser testing time, so testing houses including Powertech Technology Inc. (PTI) and Walton Advanced Engineering may seen their second quarter performance affected.

The sources indicated that Elpida began increasing its proportion of eTT DRAM production in March, after the company became aware that PC OEMs may ease back on demand amid further anticipated prices cuts. Analysts commented that the general testing time for Japanese vendors is 500-600 seconds but only 100-200 seconds for eTT chips. The hourly rate for DRAM testing on T5593 equipment is about NT$15,000.

Although PTI has achieved record monthly sales for the 20 months leading up to March's results of NT$1.87 billion, the company may see its utilization rate drop to 80-85% in the second quarter, market players estimated. Company sources at PTI project sales in April and May to be NT$1.8-1.85 billion, with the sales momentum only picking up in June. Walton, which currently sees Elpida contributing 10% to its sales, projects sales in the second quarter will only stay flat on quarter, despite ordering amounts from Elpida not expected to fall.

Thailin Semiconductor, which lags behind PTI and Walton in terms of memory testing, should maintain a stable performance in the second quarter. Since the company does not have orders from Elpida, its stable eTT DRAM orders from Hynix Semiconductor, Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation (PSC) and ProMOS Technologies should prevent fluctuations in the company's sales results.

By: DocMemory
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