NEC puts a brave face on DRAM debacle
PrintSpot prices continue to plummet
Posted in Channel, 8th November 2000 17:10 GMT
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NEC expects to weather the DRAM storm, despite last month's plunging memory prices.
The Japanese chipmakers's president Kojo Nishigaki has said the business is ready for memory prices to stay low until the end of its financial year on March 31. Prices have halved in the past four months, cutting into chip manufacturer's earnings.
"Even if prices don't recover, the damage isn't so big," said Nishigaki. He described NEC's earnings forecast as "on the pessimistic side", but said current DRAM prices were within the company's expectations.
Spot prices for 64MB DRAM chips fell 0.1 percent to $3.97 yesterday, Bloomberg reported - 56 per cent lower than the $8.96 peak on July 13.
The spot market for 128MB DRAM dropped five to eight per cent between September 21 to October 20 in the US, Asia and Europe. Contract prices fell one to four per cent.
Asiabiztech reported the 30-day rolling average price of 128Mb DRAM was $15.38 in North America, $15.38 in Asia and $16.13 in Europe, according to figures from ICIS-LOR.
In a week-by-week comparison - on the average up to October 13 - prices dropped 1.77 per cent in North America, 1.58 per cent in Asia, and 3.41 per cent in Europe.
Spot prices for DIMMs fell seven per cent in North America to $93.97 from the previous week. Prices in Asia dropped 8.5 per cent to $86.75 and 7.62 per cent to $93.77 in Europe. ®
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