To: Don Green who wrote (35618 ) 12/8/1999 2:02:00 AM From: Don Green Respond to of 93625
[World DRAM Price] DRAM Spot Price Falls Below Contract Prices in U.S., Europe, Asia December 8, 1999 (TOKYO) -- The spot price for DRAMs continues to fall in North America, Europe and Asia. It has been below day-to-day prices for large users since late October 1999. The 30-day rolling average price also followed a downward trend, plunging under prices for large users in the three markets. The worldwide DRAM price survey conducted by ICIS-LOR, based in London, Houston and Singapore, showed that the 30-day rolling average of 64Mb DRAM (PC100, 8M x 8) prices for large users between Oct. 21 and Nov. 19, 1999 was US$10.82 in North America, US$11.19 in Europe and US$10.33 in Asia. Compared with the 30-day rolling average price up to Nov. 12, it increased by 3.29 percent in North America, by 0.90 percent in Europe and by 1.94 percent in Asia. As for prices of memory modules, the spot price for 64MB DIMMs (PC100) fell by 3.16 percent from the previous week to US$80.95 in North America, by 1.93 percent to US$84.86 in Europe and by 5.67 percent to US$80.76 in Asia. Although the downward trend of those spot prices is milder, an oversupply is still expected. The reasons are the comparatively modest impact of the September earthquake in Taiwan and that shipments of PCs remain buoyant. In addition, DRAMs are manufactured at a higher pace than PCs, and PC makers are tending to decrease the memory on their PCs due to DRAM price hikes. Table. 30-Day Rolling Averages of 64Mb DRAMs (PC100, 8M x 8) Oct. 21-Nov. 19, 1999 (survey by ICIS-LOR)Area Contract price Week-on-week comparison North America US$10.82 +3.29% Europe US$11.19 +0.90% Asia US$10.33 +1.94% *Week-on-week comparison is the comparison with the 30-day rolling averages of Oct. 14-Nov. 12, 1999. Previous report: DRAM/DIMM Spot Prices Decline Four Weeks in a Row (Nikkei Market Access)