Singapore's UTAC wants business from iPhone competitors

Chip tester hopes for business from iPhone competitors. How many of them will pop up when they see the iPhone's popularity ?

By Vladimir Guevarra
Last Update: 5:12 AM ET May 8, 2007

SINGAPORE (MarketWatch) -- Singapore chip tester and assembler United Test and Assembly Center Ltd. said Tuesday it is looking at getting some business from Apple Inc.'s competitors who are expected to come up with their own version of Apple's iPhone device.
"After the iPhone, more and more (of Apple's) competitors will come up with similar types of products. There will be G-phones, M-phones and Y-phones...And we hope we can get a fair share of that market. We're still discussing," said UTAC Chief Executive Lee Joon Chung. He didn't elaborate.
Lee was speaking to participants at a semiconductor industry forum in Singapore.
Apple's iPhone combines the features of an iPod MP3 player, a cellphone and an Internet device.
Lee said the introduction of similar "converged" devices, which pack various functions into one device, will help raise global semiconductor sales this year by 6.4% to US$276 billion.
Lee also said Vietnam could soon compete against China in getting more chip-related investments in the near future.
Intel earlier this year announced plans to build a US$1 billion chip-testing and assembly plant in Vietnam.
"Remember that there are a lot of Vietnamese entrepreneurs who are now working in multinational companies in the U.S. They could go home and build the industry in their hometowns," Lee said.