Look down at the Bold, Stan. Memory-Chip Prices Fall, Pressuring Hynix, Micron Negotiations
By Ian King
quote.bloomberg.com
Seoul, April 1 (Bloomberg) -- Some computer-memory chip prices fell last week to near the point at which producers are no longer profitable, pressuring Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc. to sell its memory-chip business to rival Micron Technology Inc. before industry conditions worsen, investors said.
The spot price of the benchmark PC133 8X16 128-megabit dynamic random-access memory chip fell to $3.58 on Friday from a high of $4.48 on March 11, according to DRAM eXchange, a Taiwan- based online semiconductor exchange. That's close to the $3.50 level below which some companies begin to lose money.
U.S. based-Micron, the second-largest memory-chip maker, announced talks to buy Hynix's memory business at the start of December when chips sold for $1.50 each. The Korean company's creditors are looking to recoup some of the 6.25 trillion won ($4.7 billion) owed after they arranged two bailouts last year. They also want to severe ties to Hynix, which recorded a 5.1 trillion won loss last year.
``Hynix and its creditors may feel the pressure to sell the company's assets sooner than later,'' said Lee Hae Kyun, who manages 1 trillion won in equities at Franklin Templeton Investment Management Co. in Seoul. ``However, both are well aware of the cycle in chip prices and I don't think this would create an unnecessary stumbling block in the talks.''
Prices surged from December as personal-computer makers took advantage of low prices to boost the memory content of their machines in an attempt to jump-start sales. Lower seasonal sales and the rising cost of memory as a percentage of a computer's price capped demand for memory chips since mid-March.
Positive Impact
Lower prices were expected and may be positive in the long term because companies may be discouraged from ramping up production too quickly and causing a glut, some analysts said.
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