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Industry risk report: semiconductors.


It can be a not-so-lab world for companies in the semiconductor and electronics technology industries. Their risk managers must compute To perform mathematical operations or general computer processing. For an explanation of "The 3 C's," or how the computer processes data, see computer.  the risks of owning fabrication fabrication (fab´rikā´shn),
n the construction or making of a restoration.
 plants versus the risks of outsourcing (1) Contracting with outside consultants, software houses or service bureaus to perform systems analysis, programming and datacenter operations. Contrast with insourcing. See netsourcing, ASP, SSP and facilities management.  production, while they must also keep on their monitor issues associated with product liability, intellectual property. environmental legislation, and all the other everyday risks of a global, rapidly evolving and highly complex business.
INDUSTRY RISK REPORT SEMICONDUCTORS

Company Name            Location               CRO

Advanced Micro Devices  Sunnyvale, Calif.      Caye Hursey, Treasurer
Inc.

Analog Devices Inc.     Norwood, Mass.         Paul Miles, Director,
                                               Risk Management

Applied Materials Inc.  Santa Clara, Calif.    Andrea Soriano

Intel Corp.             Santa Clara, Calif.    Diane Labrador,
                                               Assistant Treasurer,
                                               Risk Management

Jabil Circuit Inc.      St. Petersburg, Fla.   Thomas Rittenhouse,
                                               Director, Risk
                                               Management

Micron Technology Inc.  Boise, Idaho           JoAnne Arnold, VP, Human
                                               Resources

Sanmina-SCI Corp.       San Jose, Calif.       Walter Boileau, VP,
                                               Treasurer

Solectron Corp.         Milpitas, Calif.       Kathleen Pickard,
                                               Insurance Risk Manager

Texas Instruments Inc.  Dallas, Texas          Charlie Tobin, Vice
                                               President of Treasury
                                               Services

Vishay Intertechnology  Malvern, Pa.           Richard N. Grubb, EVP,
Inc.                                           Treasurer

                                               2004 Total
Company Name            CFO                    Revenue

Advanced Micro Devices  Robert J. Rivet        $5,001 million
Inc.

Analog Devices Inc.     Joseph E. McDonough    $2,633 million

Applied Materials Inc.  Nancy H. Handel, SVP   $8,013 million

Intel Corp.             Andy D. Bryant, EVP,   $34,209 million
                        Chief Financial and
                        Enterprise Services
                        Officer

Jabil Circuit Inc.      Forbes I.J. Alexander  $6,252 million

Micron Technology Inc.  W.G. Stover Jr., VP,   $4,404 million
                        Finance

Sanmina-SCI Corp.       David White, EVP       $12,204 million

Solectron Corp.         Warren Ligan, SVP,     $11,638 million
                        Corporate Controller,
                        Interim CFO

Texas Instruments Inc.  Kevin March            $12,580 million

Vishay Intertechnology  Richard N. Grubb,      $2,413 million
Inc.                    EVP, Treasurer

                        No. of     Primary
Company Name            Employees  Broker            Captives

Advanced Micro Devices  15,900     Withheld          No
Inc.

Analog Devices Inc.     8,900      Withheld          No

Applied Materials Inc.  12,600     Aon, Marsh        No

Intel Corp.             91,000     Marsh, Aon        Electronics
                                                     Technology
                                                     Insurance Co.
                                                     Inc. (Bermuda),
                                                     Technology
                                                     Assurance Ltd.
                                                     (Hawaii)

Jabil Circuit Inc.      34,000     Withheld          No

Micron Technology Inc.  17,900     Various           No

Sanmina-SCI Corp.       48,721     Withheld          No

Solectron Corp.         57,000     Marsh, Woodruff-  No
                                   Sawyer, JLT Risk
                                   Solutions, RSC
                                   Insurance

Texas Instruments Inc.  35,472     Withheld          Texas Instruments
                                                     Insurance Ltd.
                                                     (Bermuda)

Vishay Intertechnology  25,700     Willis            No
Inc.

Company Name             Risk Exposure:

Advanced Micro Devices   Indebtedness that could adversely affect the
Inc.                     company's financial position; market
                         acceptance of new technologies; an industry
                         that is highly cyclical and experiences severe
                         downturns; need to keep pace with new product
                         designs and improvements industrywide; costs
                         related to defective products; supply of
                         essential equipment or materials to
                         manufacture products.

Analog Devices Inc.      Risk of relying on third-party subcontractors
                         and manufacturers and inability to control
                         their availability or conditions of supply;
                         risks related to proprietary rights and
                         intellectual-property litigation; economic,
                         political and other risks associated with
                         significant worldwide operations; fluctuations
                         in foreign-currency exchange rates.

Applied Materials Inc.   The volatility, unpredictability and
                         competitiveness of the industry and the risks
                         associated with its ongoing changes; the risks
                         of operating a global business; manufacturing
                         interruptions or delays that affect ability to
                         meet customer demand; various risks related to
                         the regulatory environment.

Intel Corp.              Normal operational and global risks: new
                         product strategies; production process errors
                         and interruptions; product defect or errata;
                         terrorism; crime and political instability;
                         employment practices and labor rights issues;
                         currency controls and fluctuations; tariff
                         and import regulations; legal and regulatory
                         risks; intellectual property; environmental,
                         health and safety exposures; hazard exposures
                         such as fire, flood, windstorm, etc.

Jabil Circuit Inc.       Risk exposures centered around manufacturing,
                         such as failure on an epidemic scale, material
                         liability and testing.

Micron Technology Inc.   Decreased demand for products; generation of
                         sufficient cash flows to fund operations and
                         make adequate capital investments; changes in
                         foreign currency exchange rates that adversely
                         affect business; current economic and
                         political conditions; risks associated with
                         our international sales and operations;
                         disruptions in raw material supplies.

Sanmina-SCI Corp.        Greater competition in the industry requiring
                         us to reduce prices for our services; changes
                         in customer demand and sales volumes; pricing
                         pressures from original equipment
                         manufacturers; charges or write-offs of excess
                         and obsolete inventory; pricing pressure on
                         electronic components resulting from economic
                         conditions in the electronics industry.

Solectron Corp.          Concerns about operations and contaminated
                         sites that could be potentially harmful to the
                         environment; the company's dependence on a
                         small number of customers for much of its net
                         sales; risks associated with operating
                         internationally; the company's ability to
                         maximize the hours of use of its equipment and
                         facilities.

Texas Instruments Inc.   Cyclicality in the semiconductor market that
                         affects company performance; rapid
                         technological change in the industry and the
                         substantial competition in product development
                         and pricing risks associated with legal,
                         political, economic or other changes
                         associated with doing business globally.

Vishay Intertechnology   Cyclical and competitive nature of business;
Inc.                     effects of debt levels on market perceptions
                         of the company; risks of investing in
                         startups; raw material availability, quality
                         and cost; increasingly concentrated group of
                         customers; future changes in environmental
                         liability and compliance obligations.

Company Name             Risk Strategies:

Advanced Micro Devices   The company modifies manufacturing processes
Inc.                     regularly to improve yields and product
                         performance and decrease costs. Whenever
                         appropriate, the company hedges a portion of
                         its foreign currency exchange exposure to
                         protect against fluctuations in currency
                         exchange rates. In order to reduce interest
                         rate risk, the company invests cash in
                         investments with short maturities.

Analog Devices Inc.      The company enters into forward foreign
                         exchange contracts to offset certain
                         operational and balance sheet exposures due
                         to the impact of foreign currency exchange
                         rates. The company maintains cash, cash
                         equivalents, and short-term investments and
                         long-term investments, and monitors the
                         amount of credit exposure to any one financial
                         institution and issuer.

Applied Materials Inc.   The company applies customer partnering, use
                         of foundries, collaborative research and
                         development efforts, and process integration
                         support to manage risks associated with a
                         rapidly changing industry. The company
                         denominates forward exchange contracts in the
                         same currency as the underlying transactions
                         to mitigate foreign currency exchange rate
                         risk.

Intel Corp.              The company employs aggressive risk
                         identification and assessment protocol
                         disciplined risk prevention and safety
                         programs; a balanced approach to risk
                         transfer, insurance purchasing and retention;
                         and robust risk-mitigation processes.

Jabil Circuit Inc.       The company thoroughly reviews and assesses
                         the opportunity cost of risk, structures a
                         precautionary and measured approach to risk
                         acceptance, establishes mitigation and control
                         procedures, and identifies the most
                         appropriate method to fund the risk.

Micron Technology Inc.   The company entered into an interest rate swap
                         agreement to manage interest rate risk. It
                         holds a number of patent and intellectual
                         property license agreements to offset
                         intellectual property rights risks. And the
                         company reviews the carrying value of
                         property, plant and equipment for impairment.

Sanmina-SCI Corp.        The company's insurance coverage with respect
                         to natural disasters is limited and is subject
                         to deductibles and coverage limits. The
                         company holds various U.S. and foreign
                         patents. It is developing corporatewide
                         standardized environmental management systems,
                         auditing programs and policies to enable it to
                         better manage environmental compliance
                         activities.

Solectron Corp.          The company obtained environmental insurance
                         to reduce potential environmental liability
                         exposures posed by some of its operations and
                         facilities. It also uses foreign exchange,
                         foreign contracts and interest rate swap
                         agreements to manage its financial risk.

Texas Instruments Inc.   The company maintains product liability
                         insurance, and actively enforces and protects
                         its intellectual-property rights. The company
                         uses forward currency exchange contracts to
                         minimize adverse earnings impacts from the
                         effect of exchange rate fluctuations on its
                         non-U.S. dollar net balance sheet exposures.

Vishay Intertechnology   To manage intellectual-property risk, the
Inc.                     company has applied for patents covering
                         technologies and products. The company
                         establishes reserves for specifically
                         identified potential environmental liabilities
                         and entered into interest rate swap agreements
                         to manage interest rate risk related to our
                         multicurrency revolving line of credit.
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Publication:Risk & Insurance
Date:Mar 1, 2006
Words:1294
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