Memory chips sold at less than cost

Taiwanese manufacturers are being forced to raise prices as a result of swingeing tariffs imposed earlier this week by US authorities. And, at the same time, Taiwanese and other memory companies are being forced to sell their processors below cost, a UK distributor has claimed. Mosel Vitelic responded to anti-dumping tariffs by raising its prices by 10 per cent on Wednesday. It is suffering under a 31 per cent US import tariff. (See Huge tariffs levied on Taiwanese DRAM firms) Alan Stanley, managing director of Dane-Elec UK, said: "I assume this is connected with the tariff. All of the Taiwanese companies are losing money on DRAMs. They're selling them at less than their cost of manufacture." He said there were only two companies worldwide able to manufacture DRAM at a price where they could make money. As a result, many memory manufacturers are cutting back production on chips, he said. ®