DRAM prices set to plunge

TWO SEPARATE market research outfits made prognostications about average selling prices of memory, and it won't bring a smile to the face of the Dramurai.

US outfit iSuppli said that a major slowdown of growth is expected because of a slowdown in average selling prices.

DRAM Exchange said prices for contract DRAM, supplied to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) slid to an "extremely low" level. It hopes that this trend downwards may reach its bottom in the second half of this year.

DRAM makers are reaching the nervy stage where their chips are being sold practically at cost, with the manufacturers pinning their hopes on fab technology to bring more joy into their unhappy lives.

The spot market in DRAM is also weak, and demand is "sluggish". This reinforces what AMD/ATI said today. It suggested that the demand for Microsoft Vista upgrades had failed as yet to give graphics card manufacturers the boost they'd hoped for.