To: Zeev Hed who wrote (3621 ) 7/11/1998 12:30:00 PM From: Scotsman Respond to of 4697
Here is some info off of the Alliance thread. Latest DRAM pricing info. --------------------------- 06:10pm EDT 10-Jul-98 Montgomery Securities (J. Joseph 415 627-2925) MU DRAM Pricing Update NATIONSBANC MONTGOMERY***NATIONSBANC MONTGOMERY***NATIONSBANC MONTGOMERY July 10, 1998 SEMICONDUCTORS Jonathan Joseph (415) 627-2925 First Call Claude Hazan (415) 627-2845 DJIA: 9125 S&P500: 1165 NMSGI: 127 DRAM Pricing Update DRAM prices flattish. Prices for most DRAM have remained flat over the last week, with some specialty product like high-speed 100MHz 64Mbs increasing about 10%, and other products flat or down a percentage point. As we noted yesterday, we believe unit sales for most of the DRAM manufacturers were up sharply from May to June, reflecting some recovery in the personal computer industry, which has been suffering from a slowdown and industry oversupply for the last three quarters. Indeed, lead times at some DRAM distributors have actually moved out from zero to three weeks in the past two days. A drop of rain in the desert. The DRAM industry is in trouble. We believe shipments this year may be as low as $12 billion, with losses of $11 billion. This has forced a sharp cutback in capital spending and industry consolidation. Micron acquired TI's assets and Samsung looks set to acquire LG Semi. The Japanese have largely loss interest and want to downsize their operations. The industry has been in a three-year capacity glut, which has been exacerbated by weakness in the personal computer market. The medicine the industry needs is stronger demand to absorb excess capacity. We may be seeing the start of that demand. DRAMs the industry bellwether. If demand for DRAMs is improving, it means demand for most PC-bound components, notably microprocessors, logic, and low-end analog, will also begin to see stronger demand. More than that, firming prices in DRAM should have an impact on pricing strategies across the industry, suggesting improved economics going forward. Average DRAM Pricing 5/98 6/98 MTD-98 16Mb Average $1.62 $1.52 $1.44 64Mb Average $8.86 $8.56 $8.56 Price Neutralization Month-to-Month Price Change 5/98 6/98 MTD-98 4x4 EDO (16Mb) -37% -3% -4% 2x8 SDRAM (16Mb) -30% -9% -6% 4x16 EDO (64Mb) - 2 7 % +1% Flat 8x8 SDRAM (64Mb) -31% +3% +0.5% 4x16 SDRAM (64Mb) -10% -16% +2% Average -27% -5% -1.5% Source: NMS, AICE Recent DRAM Pricing 16 Mb 64 Mb 4Mx4 2Mx8 4Mx16 8x8 4X16 EDO SDRAM EDO SDRAM SDRAM 5/8/98 $2.15 $2.27 $11.01 $10.41 $10.71 5/15/98 $2.07 $2.08 $11.01 $11.13 $10.30 5/28/98 $1.52 $1.69 $8.45 $8.09 $9.93 6/1/98 $1.55 $1.69 $8.72 $8.00 $10.00 6/5/98 $1.55 $1.69 $8.72 $7.84 $9.43 6/12/98 $1.55 $1.49 $8.83 $8.34 $9.16 6/19/98 $1.55 $1.49 $9.23 $8.64 $9.16 6/26/98 $1.50 $1.53 $8.78 $8.27 $8.40 7/6/98 $1.44 $1.44 $8.98 $8.11 $8.64 7/10/98 $1.44 $1.44 $8.81 $7.98 $8.64 Source: NMS, AICE