Global memory chip market bottoms out: Hynix head

By Kim Young-gyo
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- The global memory chip market seems to have hit
bottom, but a full-blown rebound will hinge on the pace of the global economy's
recovery, the head of Hynix Semiconductor Inc. said Monday.
"I am very careful about making any prediction, but I would like to think that
the (memory chip) market bottomed out during the last quarter," Kim Jong-Kap, CEO
of the world's second-largest memory chipmaker, told a press briefing.
According to a government report released last week, South Korean exports of
semiconductors declined annually in 2008 for the first time since 2001 due to an
oversupply that sent DRAM and NAND flash memory prices plummeting.
Global DRAM and NAND flash prices fell to US$0.9 and $1.8 at the end of 2008 from
$1.8 and $6.2 at the start of last year, respectively, with outbound shipments
dropping 16 percent to $32.8 billion.
Kim said improving cash flows would be on the front burner for Hynix this year
amid the worsening global economic slump.
"Our top priority this year will be increasing liquidity," Kim said. "Selling the
facility in Eugene is one such self-help measure."
In December, Kim told a local newspaper that Hynix was to complete the sale of
its only U.S. factory in Oregon by the end of the last year.
"We are still in negotiations with a potential buyer over the facility in Eugene,
and I am very optimistic," Kim said.
Hynix is projected to have reported a record operating loss in the fourth quarter
as a global glut is driving down prices amid a global recession, according to
market watchers.
The company logged a 1.65 trillion won ($1.22 billion) net loss in the
July-September period, compared with a profit of 168 billion won a year earlier.
Creditors of Hynix have agreed to provide the company with 800 billion won in
financial support.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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