WASHINGTON -- Mainstream synchronous DRAM prices today continued their spot-market free fall, with workhorse memory chips hitting their lowest prices ever.
Industry reports show PC133 8-by-8 64-megabit SDRAMs plunging below $3.50 on Asian spot markets and PC100 8-by-16 128-Mbit chips falling to $9.80. The 8-by-8 64-Mbits were slightly higher, at $3.85 to $3.90, on U.S. commodity markets.
Contract OEM pricing followed the commodity market lower, reportedly dropping to about $5 for 8x8 64-Mbits, and below $11 for 128-Mbit SDRAMs.
Analysts and DRAM suppliers blamed a slowing rate of PC growth, which was both curtailing new customer orders and reducing the previous inventory buildup into the spot market. The continuing drop in 128-Mbit SDRAMs saw these chips this week selling below the price that 64-Mbits commanded only a few months ago.
The steep SDRAM drop in a month was reminiscent of a similar plunge a year ago, when they bottomed out at about $4.50. Only a month ago, 8-by-8 PC133 SDRAMs were selling for $5.50 and 8-by-16 PC100s were at $15.50 in spot markets, according to both American IC Exchange and NECX. That marks a 36% price fall in the past 30 days for both types of mainstream memory.
Dieter Mackowiak, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Samsung Semiconductor Inc. in San Jose, said he believes the suddenpricing nosedive would hit bottom once OEMs worked off the SDRAM inventories they had built up for PC production ramps this fall that didn't hit the target. Ironically, trailing-edge EDO 4-by-16 or 16-by-4 DRAMs were selling at nearly three times the price of similar-density SDRAM parts, because of very limited production by only a few producers.
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