Opening a chip plant in Europe to meet the diffusion requirements would cost $200 million to $400 million, the committee's report said.

It cited falling prices for computer memory chips and rising spending on new technology and chip plants.

The company's heavy spending on four new chip plants also pared operating earnings, he said.

The deal will enable Sony to establish its first American chip plant quickly.

The Intel plant heads an armada of $1 billion-plus chip plants under construction around the world.

In 1999, an earthquake briefly halted production at its chip plants and rattled the global industry.

And Samsung has said it plans to invest about $3.4 billion in new chip plants and equipment this year.

He said that a gradual improvement in orders was unlikely to offset rising costs of new chip plants.

'It's just that I thought you must have seen the inside of a chip plant before, that's all.'

'What else would you build in a chip plant?'