Memory Chip Rebound

Infineon, a former unit of German electronics company Siemens AG, will probably be profitable at all but its wireline division, the smallest of the company's four units, the analyst survey showed. The memory chip unit probably broke even after an operating loss of 138 million euros in the year-earlier period, the survey showed.

In January, former CEO Schumacher forecast the first annual profit since 2000, saying the worst crisis for the industry is over and the worldwide market for semiconductors would grow about 20 percent this year.

The semiconductor industry has benefited from rising prices for so-called dynamic random access memory computer chips, or DRAM. This year, the spot price for 256-megabit, 333-megahertz double-data-rate DRAM is up almost 60 percent. Last week, the price on the most widely used memory chip fell below $6 as Samsung Electronics Co. and other producers boosted supply.

``I expect good earnings in the quarter behind us, from DRAM to specialized chipmakers and chip gear makers,'' said John van den Berg, who helps manage about 6 billion euros of assets, including STMicro, Infineon and ASML Holding NV, at AZL Vermogensbeheer in Heerlen, the Netherlands. ``I expect the current cycle to peak in 2005.''

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