DRAM Contract Price to Challenge US$9 in Q4
August 2, 2000 (TAIPEI) -- The short supply of 64M dynamic random access memory chips in the fourth quarter seems to have worsened.
This is counter to foreign investor companies' forecasts regarding the outlook of the semiconductor industry.
Mosel Vitelic Inc. said that the predicted shortage of 64Mb DRAM supply had been long agitating consumer fears that production might not go on schedule due to the DRAM shortfall in the fourth quarter.
It added that its customers, particularly system and peripherals manufacturers, are required to pre-order their DRAM supply for the period from September to November, with the contracted price adjusted weekly. The contracted price of 64M DRAMs for the period has been boosted to more than US$9 per piece.
Dampened by seasonal factors, the spot price of 64M DRAM reversed, and fell slightly recently. But Taiwan's DRAM manufacturers are confident that the vendors will win back the dominance in the DRAM trade in the fourth quarter, as the DRAM shortage is not a secret any more.
Mosel has scaled up its DRAM contracted price for July to more than US$7 per unit, US$1 higher than the contracted price set in June. Some of its customers even have to take the high contracted price of nearly US$8.5 per unit, which surpasses the DRAM's spot price.
The demand for DRAMs has emboldened Mosel when it upwardly revises the contracted price. According to a Mosel spokesman, it's supposed to adjust the contract price every week, instead of twice per month, with the aim of reflecting the real fluctuation of DRAM pricing.
"Local manufacturers believe that DRAM starvation will happen between September and November, resulting in a snap-up in the DRAM market and carelessness in the contracted prices for August," Mosel said. In addition, Mosel's rivals, including Promos Technologies Inc., have had difficulty upgrading their manufacturing process on schedule. That is expected to further endanger the DRAM supply, and it also has contributed to the craze to re-order DRAMs.
(Commercial Times, Taiwan)
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