Memory prices to fall ?

[NoobyDoo]

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20130808PD201.html

...
DRAM demand has been negatively affected by continued sluggish PC sales and disappointing sales of tablets and smartphones since the second half of 2013, according to industry sources. DRAM inventory held by PC OEMs as well as module makers has piled up, raising concerns that an inventory correction will take place in the industry
...
In addition to Kingston, several module companies have dropped their quotes slightly to reflect chip price decreases, the sources pointed out. The sources believe that if any of those major DRAM firms initiates a big price cut, a domino effect will be triggered in the market
...

 

[Eeqmcsq]

Could be a price drop, yeah. I have a feeling that the tablet market is reaching saturation, so if there really is a pile of RAM sitting around, then the prices will go down this fall. I don't think they'll drop to dirt cheap levels like we saw, unless the smartphone/tablet market suddenly falls over a cliff.

 

[Agent11]

Ddr3 is already really cheap, they still gouge for ddr2 though.

 

[zir_blazer]

In case no one remembers, around 6 months ago, RAM prices were around half of what they are today. Manufacturers decided tu increase their price HD-style some years ago, just that without a plant flooding. Seems like they got away with the price fixing, but now they can't artificially maintain it any more.

 

[Blain]

Seems like they got away with the price fixing, but now they can't artificially maintain it any more.

"It's not what you know, it's what you can prove"...

 

[zir_blazer]

"It's not what you know, it's what you can prove"...

Because we've already had DRAM price fixing issues in the past, and big companies like these don't easily change their habits. They are not better than when Intel threatened OEMs to boycott AMD, and force them into buying Processor/Chipset bundles, or else lose access to their hottest products.

Want links?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/memory...w_Growth_4GB_DDR3_Module_Now_Costs_15_75.html
http://techreport.com/news/24281/desktop-memory-prices-are-on-the-rise-again
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/memory...e_DRAM_Makers_of_Artificial_Price_Fixing.html
http://www.ciol.com/ciol/news/193174/commodity-dram-price-surges-record-profits-suppliers-2q13

If both you and your competitors decide simultaneously to reduce production, in order to reduce supply, and increase price due to speculation (Because as with HDs, we never had shortage), looks like a price fixing to me.

 

[_Rick_]

http://www.icinsights.com/news/bulletins/After-43-Years-DRAM-Market-Finally-Reaches-Maturity/
These guys claim 40% increase year-over-year in price. I suppose at this time this only requires stable prices....

Market maturity is a nice oxymoron for oligopoly.