Ram prices going up?

[Rubycon]

What's the excuse now?

 

[Blain]

Same old, same old... Supply/Demand

 

[taltamir]

overproduction by competing companies resulted in flooding of the market and operational loss for all companies involved, to the point of one of the major makers going bankrupt. Switch to DDR3 meant that the entirety of the old supply of DDR2 chips is no longer relevant, an entirely new supply of DDR3 has to be produced which is essentially a new market. As a new tech production is still limited... Those remaining companies have the added advantage of less competition.
Good link Blain.

 

[Zap]

Damnit, that's why I can't find cheap DDR3 kits. Just got a Core i7 and I think I'm decided on the motherboard, but RAM... used to be plenty of cheap 1333 3GB kits for $45 and less, and even 1600 6GB kits for $80 and less. Guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and buy something to get by for now. Amazon still has a 1600 3GB Corsair kit for $46 shipped... Maybe that one...

 

[Blain]

Don't be a whiner.
You remember what kind of prices DDR used to sell for.

 

[yh125d]

Im thinking about buying several DDR2 kits while prices are still low, cause in two years who knows :\

 

[fleshconsumed]

In two years nobody will be using DDR2 anymore.

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: fleshconsumed
In two years nobody will be using DDR2 anymore.

Because noone has a socket 939 system today


Because in two years there won't be anyone with a 2-4 year old dell they want to upgrade RAM on


Because in two years neither me or my family whose computers I built will be running DDR2


:\

 

[Emulex]

the current generation dl385 G6 uses ddr2-667 ram. why? because a dual instanbul Vmware server is faster and cheaper than the nehalem with its fancy 1066 rdimm ddr3

esp with 8gb sticks; definitely with 4gb sticks ddr2 kills on pricing

 

[fleshconsumed]

Originally posted by: yh125d

Originally posted by: fleshconsumed
In two years nobody will be using DDR2 anymore.

Because noone has a socket 939 system today


Because in two years there won't be anyone with a 2-4 year old dell they want to upgrade RAM on


Because in two years neither me or my family whose computers I built will be running DDR2


:\

The way you said it, it sounded like you wanted to buy DDR2 RAM now because you might need it two years from now. If you want to future proof your system now, sure buy it away while the prices are at all time low. But don't buy thinking you might need it two years from now.

 

[alyarb]

S939 used DDR1...

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
What's the excuse now?

Shortages seen for DDR3 SDRAM

"The improvement in circumstances is a welcome relief to a DRAM market that has been stuck in a state of oversupply for nearly three years," said Nam Hyung Kim, chief analyst for iSuppli.

"The oversupply has been a disaster for the global DRAM industry, with revenue dropping to $23.6 billion in 2008, down from $34 billion in 2006," Kim said.

During this period, the profitability of DRAM suppliers evaporated completely, and the combined operating loss for the entire DRAM industry amounted to $15 billion during the last three years.

http://www.eetimes.com/news/se...l;?articleID=218800188

In other words we've been living in an unsustainable bubble of low ram prices and now the bubble is on the verge of collapsing.

It's the same story in the NAND memory market, contract and spot prices have nearly doubled in the past 6 months. People thinking SSD's were just going to keep on getting 50% cheaper per GB every 6 months are in for a rude awakening.

SSD demand stalls as NAND prices jump

Average pricing for 16-Gbit density multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash rose to $4.10 in the second quarter of 2009, up from $1.80 in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the research firm.

http://www.eetimes.com/showArt...l;?articleID=218401129

Not sure if you deal with enough volume to want warrant purchasing a license to view the historical data on DRAMeXchange but they are one of the better sites to use for tracking spot/contract price trends in ram and flash.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: Blain
Don't be a whiner.
You remember what kind of prices DDR used to sell for.

Yup.

And our US dollar has been up and down, mostly down a little. Just hope it doesn't continue downward, as that'll surely mean prices on imported goods go up.

I picked up some Crucial 4GB DDR3 kits @ $60 delivered, and I've already gone through all of them. I was paying closer to $45 per.

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: alyarb
S939 used DDR1...

That's my point. 939/DDR1 were pretty much gone out two years ago and theres still people with old Dells an 939 rigs that wish DDR was cheaper so they could add a gig and have their system last a bit longer. I mean how many of us know some family member or friend with an old DDR pc they only use for internet and stuff? I'm sure two years from now theres either going to be some office desktops at one of my families businesses I build systems for, or one of my brothers PCs that I've built that could use a bit more DDR2, which is why I'm thinking about getting a few kits now while 4gb is $40

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: fleshconsumed

Originally posted by: yh125d

Originally posted by: fleshconsumed
In two years nobody will be using DDR2 anymore.

Because noone has a socket 939 system today


Because in two years there won't be anyone with a 2-4 year old dell they want to upgrade RAM on


Because in two years neither me or my family whose computers I built will be running DDR2


:\

The way you said it, it sounded like you wanted to buy DDR2 RAM now because you might need it two years from now. If you want to future proof your system now, sure buy it away while the prices are at all time low. But don't buy thinking you might need it two years from now.

I won't be buying it for my main PC, but in a couple of years I know I will have use for it somewhere. Upgrading a friends computer, putting together a cheap internet machine, building a cheap HTPC or file server or something... It's not like every mom and pop searching youtube is going to move to a DDR3 system any time soon

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: Idontcare

Not sure if you deal with enough volume to want warrant purchasing a license to view the historical data on DRAMeXchange but they are one of the better sites to use for tracking spot/contract price trends in ram and flash.

My broker buys and sells this stuff like stocks. So I don't feel bad with a 4GHz i7 system with 12GB to play solitaire. I just win faster!

 

[Modelworks]

Prices will likely rise because it is time for OEM builders to start turning out systems for the holidays.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

When did you notice this? It is August 1st btw

All of my stuff in my 'wish list' at new egg went up in price. the PSU especially = ~ 50$ the HDD 5$

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN
When did you notice this? It is August 1st btw

All of my stuff in my 'wish list' at new egg went up in price. the PSU especially = ~ 50$ the HDD 5$

its called inflation, soon we will have to deal with hyper inflation as our current administration is spending money we don't have and nobody will even let us borrow... california is actually paying people with IOU slips, and the feds just PRINT more money to pay people with.

 

[Winterpool]

Beyond the obvious self-interest (I buy most things in America with US dollars!), I confess great intellectual curiosity whether the current 'Chimerican' economic system is sustainable as the dollar declines. Leaving aside politics (I'm relatively 'Right', but I know when to suit up for Keynesian stimulus), massively increasing debt will almost certainly lead to further depreciation of the dollar, higher inflation, and higher interest rates. But can the current tech and consumer electronics market (and their production in China) continue substantial growth if the effective US prices rise? For an entire generation or more, Western consumers, especially in the US, have been used to better tech at lower prices. Is this industry even configured to raise prices in the long term?

Of course the long-awaited increase in domestic Asian demand may finally occur, and that would be a game-changer. I was interested to see a report suggesting LCD panel prices are rising owing to increased Chinese demand, even as Westerners cut spending. The report suggested trouble ahead for the North American market, since vendors would have scant profit margin available to discount come Christmas.

 

[taltamir]

you pretty much answer your own question... your analysis is dead on.
Ask yourself, how much of it is made in america?

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Aren't the majority of Micron's manufacturing facilities in the US?

Edit: http://www.micron.com/locations/

Three in the States, one in Puerto Rico, couple in Europe, one in China, one in Japan, couple in Singapore.

 

[taltamir]

3 in USA, 1 in puerto rico, 5 in other places worldwide...

 

[Idontcare]

Component prices to jump in Q3

Most components are expected to see price declines in the third quarter, but the average is being skewed by DRAMs. As reported, there are shortages for DDR3 SDRAMs right now; other memory types are seeing price declines in the period.

The rise in average component prices for the third quarter follows declines of 8.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, 9.2 percent in the first quarter of 2009 and 5 percent in the second quarter of 2009, according to the research firm.

Going forward, component prices will revert to declines in the fourth quarter, with a 0.2 percent decrease, according to the firm.

''Overall component pricing is being heavily impacted by price hikes for DRAM, spurred by a shortage of DDR3 parts," said Eric Pratt, vice president, pricing and competitive analysis at iSuppli, in a statement.

http://www.eetimes.com/news/se...l;?articleID=219000138

 

[taltamir]

well qimoda is closing finally... it was the last european memory maker. this leaves 1 in the USA, 1 in japan, the rest elsewhere in asia...
Although I doubt the american one can survive our transition to communism.