KCBS, Newradio San Francisco, just had an indepth report on TSMC and UMC in Science Based Park in Taiwan. These are the two biggest Chip makers in Taiwan. They have only 25% of full power for at least two weeks, they can not even get into some buildings and fabs to inspect the equipment.

These houses produce much of the foundry work for US companies. This is not good news, chip prices were already on the way up. There could be a real shortage of chips starting NOW.

If lots of embedded failures were to be FOF, there will not be any parts to build the new equipment.

It takes a long time from when the power is restored till a fab gets back to a decent yeild.

Things will get worse before they get better.....

-- helium (heliumavid@yahoo.com), September 23, 1999

Answers

Interconnectedness

-- I love that word (hopeI@spelledit.right), September 23, 1999.

CNBC reported it will be 1 to 2 months before chip production is started again. Intel having problems with their motherboards. Oh yea baby..

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), September 23, 1999.

So much for replacement chips for embedded systems....

Got power?

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), September 23, 1999.

3:00 p.m. PST, Tom on CNBC just said 2 months for chips and parts to be manufactured in Taiwan.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), September 23, 1999.

Just another thought, if we get 10% of our chips and parts from Taiwan, where does the other 90% come from? Also, if it's going to take 2 months for production to begin again in Taiwan, doesn't that mean that jobs here will be in jeopardy? I think we are in deeper dodo..........

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), September 23, 1999.

Nothing to it...just a three day storm

HAHAHAHA!!

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@ It's ALL going away in January.com), September 23, 1999.

GREETINGS! Several VERY important questions NOT mentioned by the lapdog press: 1. we know about the lack of power in TAIWAN. they have nuclear reactors on that island. Notice NOT A WORD about their condition post-quake? Rather odd, for so important a utility, no? 2. As mentioned, there are undoubtedly embedded chips all over the place in the infrastructure that was levelled. But look at it this way instead: regardless of that, the re-building will take away from the precious time of 100 days to y2k. Remediation will take a back seat to survival! Same as in the area in the way of FLOYD...no work got done there, either, while the evacuation/resettlement/rebiulding occurs. Guess the CIA better send in more spooks to re-calculate a Y2K readiness date for TAIWAN, no? Will it be classified? As I type, NIKKEI down another 500+. The averages headed for the basement with BIG FEET the last hour. This is an ELLIOTT C wave;don't mess with it. We were only saved by the bell, literally, today. SATURDAY is a full moon. PETER eliades knows all about these. Note that Friday 24th is the closest day to that full moon. So....

-- profit_of_doom (doom@helltopay.com), September 23, 1999.

memory chips wholesale prices have doubled in the last two-three months, this was before the quake , now my distributor post the price as CALL on the web page . the price increase was normal seasonal thing at first , but now it is getting wierd. Also, we system builders have been waiting for the Y2K panic purchase of new systems to replace the old ones all year, and its just starting to happen. they thought the prices would go down. Now it look like shortages.

-- comp (compudude@toldya.so), September 23, 1999.

Interesting developments....and important points..any disruptions at this late date will put y2k work behind further. Wonder how the people in charge of the dead lines are feeling about now. Keep the imput coming on the $ chips etc.

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), September 24, 1999.

Good observation, compudue. You took the words right out of my... keyboard.

-- Mori-Nu (silkenet@yahoo.com), September 24, 1999.

All those small biz ppl waiting until the last minute to replace their computers, figuring they're due for an upgrade anyway and why pay $$ to fiddle with old boxes ...

OOPS

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), September 24, 1999.