[World DRAM Price] Spot Prices Fall, Shakeout of Makers May Occur
December 20, 2000 (TOKYO) -- The spot prices of DRAM microchips declined again after witnessing a rise in the week of Nov. 20, and with the current spot prices at such a low level the cash flow situations of DRAM makers have worsened, industry watchers said.
If this declining trend continues, it will likely result in mergers and acquisitions among IC manufacturers.
According to a survey of world DRAM prices conducted by ICIS-LOR, which has bases in London, Houston and Singapore, the rolling average prices of 128Mb DRAMs (PC133, 16M x 8) for large users in the 30-day period ending Dec. 1, 2000 (Nov. 2-Dec. 1) reached US$13.82 in North America, US$9.55 in Europe, and US$12.66 in Asia.
Compared with the previous week (or the 30-day rolling average for the period ending Nov. 24, 2000) these prices remained the same in North America, and represented a decline of 3.73 percent for Europe, and a decline of 6.59 percent for Asia.
As for prices of memory modules, the spot prices for 128MB DIMMs (PC133 units) fell 6.89 percent from the previous week to US$58.35 in North America, declined 5.17 percent to US$57.74 in Europe, and fell 3.31 percent to US$54.45 in Asia.
Table: 30-Day Rolling Averages of 128Mb DRAMs (PC133, 16M x 8) Nov. 2-Dec. 1, 2000 (survey by ICIS-LOR)
Area
Contract price
Week-on-week comparison
North America
US$13.82
0.00%
Europe
US$9.55
-3.73%
Asia
US$12.66
-6.59%
*Week-on-week comparison is the comparison with the 30-day rolling averages of Oct. 26-Nov. 24, 2000.
(Nikkei Market Access) |
