Micron has followed fellow Dramurai Hyundai's recent announcement that it will be increasing DDR SDRAM production "based on customer demand".

The company isn't saying how much more DDR chips and modules it's going to be making, but its does expect a "rapid ramp" and "increasing production levels" for the rest of the year.

"With customers in desktop and portable computing, server, graphics, networking and consumer segments choosing it for their products, DDR SDRAM appears to be the next high-volume architecture," said Micron marketing director Jeff Mailloux. Again, an unequivocal prediction rendered vague by a qualifier, in this case the "appears".

For harder data, Micron turns to Semico Research, which reckons that some 400 million DDR chips will be sold this year, rapidly rising to 808 million through 2002.

"With multiple PC chipsets and non-PC applications being introduced this year, the production ramp for DDR SDRAM is accelerating. Semico anticipates steady demand growth throughout the next five years," Micron's release quotes Sherry Garber, a senior VP at Semico, as saying.

Whatever, all the DDR makers expect significant growth come Q3 and the arrival of DDR-supporting chipsets for Intel's Pentium 4. That, they say, will drive up volumes which, in turn, will push prices down. Micron expects price parity with PC-133 by the end of the year. ®