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Technology Stocks : ISSI a great opportunity -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Hermesmann who wrote (862)	10/21/1999 2:24:00 PM
From: stock talk	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1058

DRAM prices will remain high: TSMC Chairman Taipei, Oct. 20, 1999 (CENS)--Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC) chairman Morris Chang said on Tuesday that prices for 64MB dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips will remain high over the next year despite the slump over the past few days. Prices for the 64MB chips have risen steadily in recent months. The American IC Exchange quotes spot prices for 64MB DRAM chips between US$13.99 and US$15.14. The quote has helped keep Taiwan spot prices for DRAM at US$11 and US$12 a chip. Though spot prices for 64MB DRAM chips have dipped slightly over the past few days, contract prices remain strong. Industry insiders here point out that contract prices for Japan-made and South Korea-made 64MB DRAM chips hovered between US$10 and US$10.5 a chip in early October and could test the US$11 to US$12 level. Local chipmakers say that a US$2 to US$3 between contract prices and spot prices is reasonable. The difference widened to US$10 a few days ago, when spot price for 64MB DRAM chips surged to US$21. The chipmakers said that speculative buying may have contributed to the unreasonable price difference, noting that the spot market accounts for only 20% of all DRAM sales. Chipmakers here expect contract prices for 64MB DRAM to steadily mount in the first quarter next year. Local manufacturers, they predict, will enjoy stronger fourth-quarter sales this year compared with third-quarter results. Some firms have started revising contract prices every two week instead of monthly as before. Local DRAM producers said that the narrowing difference between spot prices and contract prices is a normal development. Excessive price hikes could dampen demand for DRAM and increase the costs of personal-computer makers. The manufacturers point out that many Japanese and South Korean DRAM makers will hike contract prices in late October and early November. They predict the prices will further climb in December when PC makers step up orders in preparation for the Christmas season.