The potentially deadly SARS virus, which started in China, has sparked fear and led to a rush of preventive planning but has not yet disrupted a global semiconductor industry reliant on easy access to Asian chip factories.

A string of earnings reports this week suggests that the executives of the largest semiconductor companies have not backed down from expansion strategies in Asia and have not seen a major problem with the supply of goods in and out of the region.

Those fears have been fanned over the last few weeks by canceled technology conferences, travel restrictions by U.S. companies and quarantines. The flulike SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, has infected over 3,400 people and killed 160 people in the past six weeks.


Teradyne, a maker of testing tools used in microchip production, said the illness was having some effect on its ability to move staff in and out of Asia, but added that the company was going ahead with plans to add 1,000 people in one office in China.

Also, microchipmaker Intel and Texas Instruments, the largest maker of chips for mobile phones, both confirmed that SARS has not yet had a serious impact on business.

"As of today, we don't see anything dramatic in any of those three," said Intel Chief Financial Officer Andy Bryant in a conference call on Monday, referring to SARS, the war in Iraq and the economy.

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