What's the deal with memory pricing???

[moogen]

hey guys!
been in japan for the past 3 years, and it's nice to finally be back!! now i'm ready to build a fast, oc'd system on the cheap but...what the heck is up with memory prices?? i took a brief perusal of AT, and saw a mention of "holiday season induced low stock levels," but i don"t think that accounts for this! besides the reason with why they are up, more importantly, will they go down significantly any time soon? HAVE they been going down recently?? thanks all for any answers to a lost little AT'er

moogs

 

[genec57]

Memory is a commodity and is subject to wide fluctuations. It has recently been dropping and, hopefully, will continue to do so.

 

[chizow]

Memory is actually really cheap right now. There was a bit of inflation building up for Vista but since Vista hit there's been tons of really nice deals on solid memory kits. You can get 2GB of solid DDR2 for @$120 with or without MIR. Check out Hot Deals for some pretty big threads on memory.

 

[GundamSonicZeroX]

Memory is like oil, it's a commodity. And welcome back! How was Japan?

 

[BladeVenom]

Don't they have computers and the internet in Japan?

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom
Don't they have computers and the internet in Japan?

And memory prices are typically lower there too.

 

[Doh!]

I visit Korea pretty often. In the past, memory prices in Korea have been in line w/ the U.S. prices. Very recently, however, the price plummeted and you can get a stick of 1GB DDR2 for around $50~$55 in Korea (no rebate/discount). I suspect the U.S. prices will soon follow such price drop.

 

[Lonyo]

Prices have dropped like 25% on the last month or two... or at least that's what I've seen.

 

[moogen]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: BladeVenom
Don't they have computers and the internet in Japan?

And memory prices are typically lower there too.

heheh well, i'm not OFFICIALLY back yet, but i'm on the boards, and my body will follow next month. yeah, there are some cool computers here, but unfortunately, the price is ridiculous. a new celeron with a gig of mem and a 160gb hd will typically run ya over $1000 USD. nah, memory prices are not typically lower here, or anything else pc related for that matter, but you can find some deals sometimes in akihabara (the electronic "town" of tokyo) on some used stuffs. don't really head to korea much, but the prices are not really in line with what's here. most people head to korea for a "cheap" vacation...kinda like going to mexico.

 

[A554SS1N]

I'm in the Uk, and memory prices have been much cheaper recently - when I bought my PC parts last year, 2GB DDR2 667Mhz RAM I got was £151, now that's more like £100, maybe a bit less.

 

[sandorski]

Memory Prices rise and fall every year in a very predictable manner.

 

[nyker96]

damn now you all talking about this worlwide price thing, I should have asked my friend to look at DDR2 price while he's in tokyo, who knows maybe they already dropped to below US prices. I wonder if the prices anywhere will ever reach say sub-100 mark for 2x1Gb of decent DDR2s. that would make everyone upgrade their rigs.

 

[Midnight Rambler]

As noted, memory prices are commodity cyclic (just like gasoline ...), plus, I think there was some bloat in both pricing and stockpiling due to the intro of Vista. Now that that is over (and proven a flop), the market is a little softer than norm.

But you gotta act fast. For example, I bought 2GB of hi-end OCZ last week and almost caught it at it's rock bottom. In a 24hr period, the price changed by $25, but in increments rather than all at once. Then the next day the MIR value dropped too. What I paid $165 for now costs $195, both prices after MIR.

On the same day there was the 2GB Buffalo Firestix ($199) deal that I missed out on ... :brokenheart:

 

[soydios]

Memory prices are about where they were six months ago, when I built my computer.

I'm waiting for an OCZ 2GB(2x1GB) DDR2-800 kit to fall below $150 before I buy another 2GB of RAM. I currently have 2GB of RAM, which is great for XP, but gaming and Adobe Lightroom under Vista will need 4GB.

 

[Midnight Rambler]

$195 price quoted above has risen another $20 today.

Then again, gasoline went up 24 cents a gallon too ...

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

in europe u can have 2gig value ddr2 800 starting for 130-140Euro. prices have significally fallen about last month.

 

[moogen]

you guys are right! prices are falling nicely, just found this:
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 DDR2 Gold Edition Memory $164.80 Free Shipping
woot.

as for you poor european souls, everything is ALWAYS more expensive there (or so my brit friends always b**** to me ;-)

 

[Roguestar]

17.5% VAT!!! You Yanks only pay around 5~6% depending on state .

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

Originally posted by: moogen
you guys are right! prices are falling nicely, just found this:
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 DDR2 Gold Edition Memory $164.80 Free Shipping
woot.

as for you poor european souls, everything is ALWAYS more expensive there (or so my brit friends always b**** to me ;-)

maybe in GB not in germany and the other countries belonging to the EU

 

[moogen]

a 17.5% sales tax??! there's a word for that: ROBBERY. yeah, most states have about 5-7% sales tax, but some have none! and if ya order online from a different state, no sales tax