[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 121 (Monday, September 23, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     AMERICA'S TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. C.L. ``BUTCH'' OTTER

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 23, 2002

  Mr. OTTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to place into the Record a 
newspaper article carrying a welcome story about America's technology 
industry. Over the last year the financial markets, as well as the 
American people, have been rocked by stories of huge corporations that 
used accounting chicanery and outright lies to defraud investors. I am 
proud to say that Micron, based in Boise, Idaho, has a worldwide 
reputation for conservative accounting and fair-dealing with employees, 
investors, and the community. I am hopeful that innovative, upstanding 
companies like Micron will lead this Nation into economic recovery and 
renewed faith in the marketplace.

             [From the EE Times, Asia, Sept. 16, 2002[rsqb]

                     Micron's Cost Management Envy

       Micron execs have been talking about conservative financial 
     management long before the industry came to know about the 
     shocking revelations of Worldcom's accounting irregularities.
       Some EEs in Silicon Valley often wonder how Micron 
     Technology Inc. escapes cyclical storms that have become the 
     hallmark of semiconductor businesses. Industry observers 
     generally point to its single-minded focus on memories and 
     its frugal culture that helps keep production costs low.
       But there is something more remarkable about the Boise, 
     Idaho-based company that became evident only lately: 
     conservative accounting. Micron execs have been talking about 
     conservative financial management long before the industry 
     came to know about the shocking revelations of WorldCom's 
     accounting irregularities.
       Memory business has been intensely competitive, and on top 
     of that, sometimes countries or rather a group of companies 
     tend to make memories a strategic business. ``We prepare for 
     that by not borrowing too much money, which helps us prepare 
     to face all kinds of situations,'' says a Micron executive.
       In 1990, Micron was ranked as the 11th DRAM maker, while 
     last year, it was the second largest memory vendor. Despite 
     the rupture of the Hynix deal and the fear of decline in DRAM 
     market this year, Micron is progressively investing in new 
     technologies.
       The memory chipmaker has recently demonstrated the first 
     DDR-II system for PC applications--with memory channel 
     running at 533/MHz data rate for a channel bandwidth of 
     4,300/MBps. The demonstration included a variety of 
     developments including a 256/Mb DDR-II device, a hardware-
     analysis board and signal-analysis software.
       The system would allow not only to verify DDR-II channel 
     performance, but also to characterize how well the channel 
     works for various operating conditions, data patterns as well 
     as timing and voltage margins.
       While Micron's decisions are driven around cost scenarios, 
     this tradition will be soon be put to the test in the much 
     talked-about 200/mm-to300/mm conversion. So far, the 
     chipmaker seems to be a trendsetter as it relates the 300/mm 
     transition to production cost. As CEO Steve Appleton puts it, 
     the company doesn't care what anyone else is doing, unless it 
     helps to drive the cost of 300/mm and change the model.
       After the irrational exuberance of 2000 was followed by 
     pessimism last year, the industry is waking up to new 
     realities born out of accounting loopholes. Here, Micron's 
     prescience and financial savvy can provide some significant 
     lessons.

     

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