To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (10662 ) 7/19/2003 6:23:45 PM From: Return to Sender Respond to of 95479 DRAM Bulletin: Why are DRAM prices rising? By Nam Hyung Kim Semiconductor Business News 07/18/2003, 9:00 AM ET siliconstrategies.com The following article was provided by Nam Hyung Kim, a senior analyst with iSuppli Corp., a market research firm based in El Segundo, Calif. Why are DRAM prices rising? This is the question being asked over and over again by spot market traders, memory module makers"and even DRAM suppliers"all of whom are puzzled by the recent rally in worldwide spot market pricing. Most agree that the traditional factor that drives prices up, a sustained, real increase in end demand, hasn't materialized yet. However, all the players share an optimistic view about DRAM demand and pricing in the near future. Many observers, including iSuppli, expected that a downward price adjustment would have occurred already. However, this hasn't happened, although the price premium for Double Data Rate (DDR) 400 SDRAM is decreasing, as iSuppli predicted. U.S. spot market pricing for 256Mbit DDR266 and 128Mbit DDR266 SDRAM rose by 6 percent and 4 percent this week. Overall DDR prices now have increased eight consecutive weeks since the week of May 26th. With an expected increase in demand still not here, other factors are pushing spot market prices up, iSuppli believes. First among the reasons is the suppliers' victory over buyers in recent contract price negotiations. Suppliers successfully constrained DRAM shipments by allocating large volumes of parts to certain module makers and mid-tier system manufacturers in special deals, which limited the amount of DRAM available in contract and spot markets, keeping prices artificially high. Second, optimism about a second-half 2003 PC recovery is prompting traders and distributors to hold more inventory, further constraining supply. Third, the suppliers' product mix changed from DDR266 to DDR333/400. This reduced DDR266 shipments, which triggered DDR266 price increases. While iSuppli still doesn't see indications of real recovery in demand, we do detect some positive developments in the industry. One of those developments is the narrowing price premium between DDR400 and DDR266. This is occurring not just because DDR400 prices decreased, but also because DDR266 prices are on the rise. The decrease in the price premium makes DDR400 a more attractive alternative to DRAM buyers, giving them more choices of memories to use. Other positive factors that could spur demand and prop up DRAM prices include: 1)Intel Corp.'s new Springdale PC core logic chipset release; 2) Strong summer sales in China; 3) The expected back-to-school effect. The latest World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) data from May also offers some hope for the near future. The WSTS data indicates that the three-month moving average of the per-megabit price for DRAM already has reached the bottom of the cycle and is moving upward, which is a good sign. However, DRAM megabit shipment curves haven't risen yet because demand has not recovered. Like PC shipments, DRAM shipments are strongly seasonal; the second half of a year typically is far better than the first. Therefore, iSuppli remains cautiously optimistic about the prospects of a second-half market recovery. However, there remains the possibility of a downward price adjustment in the near future, as iSuppli previously predicted. Any bad news, even a minor setback, could burst the bubble of artificially high DRAM prices, iSuppli believes. Nam Hyung Kim is a senior analyst with iSuppli Corp. Further information on the DRAM market is available in Kim's DRAM Market Brief report from iSuppli's Standard Semiconductors, DRAM service. Contact him at nkim@isuppli.com