$Bil. PC Market in Danger from Strikes

PC parts companies are worried about the strikes caused by the so-called big deals.
Strikes by Daewoo Electronics and LG Semiconductors' employees over big deals are expected to be prolonged, and companies which supply parts to those companies including Hewlett Packard Korea, Compaq Computer, IBM Korea and Philips are trying to attract clients from other companies in Japan and Taiwan.
Some foreign companies in Korea including HP Korea are saying that if the situation continues for even more than one week from now, it can not help but focus on client-companies in Taiwan.
HP Korea has already begun negotiations with a PC monitor maker in Taiwan.
Compaq Computer which buys more than 200 million dollars worth of monitors per year from Daewoo Electronics is considering buying products from Taiwanese firms if Daewoo Electronics' strike continues much longer
Compaq Computer also buys more than 600 million dollars worth of DRAM chips per year from LG Semiconductors, but it is considering a transfer of 200 million dollars to Japanese-made DRAM chips.
Philips Korea which bought more than 500 million dollars worth of semiconductors from Korean companies last year is also contemplating purchasing products from other foreign companies if strikes are not quickly resolved.
Companies in Taiwan and Japan are seizing the opportunity and negotiating to increase providing parts to multi-national PC companies in Korea.
The Ministry of Information and Communication have started an investigation of trends of other foreign companies that are providing PC parts to Korean-based companies.