Face value Foundry father

摘要

Now would seem to be an awful time to be a microchip manufacturer. Less than a year ago, the industry could barely keep up with the demands of its high-flying, high-tech customers-makers of mobile phones, computers, Palm Pilots and other fancy gadgets. Now those customers are flying low: with piles of semiconductors in stock, they are understandably loth to order any more. Suddenly, the world's chip factories (known as "fabs", or fabrication plants) stand almost idle.