'Chip-shape'
TP:
Interesting bit of news,some say the tightening chip demand is here to stay but some analysts (as always)are skeptical however,we shall see.
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Source: Cnet
Chip market tightens
By Reuters
Special to CNET News.com
October 21, 1998, 5:00 a.m. PT
The computer memory chip market has tightened since mid-October due to production cuts by Japanese and South Korean makers and stronger demand from PC makers, industry officials said.
Inventories of the most advanced 64-megabit dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, known as CL2, have fallen to almost nil due to strong sales of Windows 98-installed PCs in the United States and European markets, the officials said.
"The demand for 64 megabit (DRAM) has jumped. As for high-speed synchronous DRAM chips, inventories have been completely erased," a Fujitsu executive said.
An NEC executive said the company had begun negotiating with volume users for a 10-percent hike in the price of 64 megabit DRAMs.
In the spot market, prices for 16 megabit DRAMs have risen by about 50 percent to about $3, Fujiaki Sato, analyst at Deutsche Bank Group, said.
As for 64 megabit chips, prices had recovered to $9.50 from $9, up from $6.50 in May, he said.
"I'm bullish about the prospect for high-end 64-mega DRAMs," Dresdner Kleinwort Benson analyst Hideki Wakabayashi said.
Globally, only four makers will be capable of producing CL2-type 64-mega DRAMs--Samsung Electronics, Toshiba, NEC, and Micron Technology. |
