November round up: DRAM prices on the slide

DRAM memory prices slid by around 15 per cent on the spot market in November. According to memory manufacturer and distributor DMC, the price of a 64MB DIMM (PC-100 8x8) on 1 November was £52.53. By the end of the month, this price was down to £42.43. Andrew MacKenzie, VP of DMC Europe, said he expected this steady decrease to continue until the end of December. "There'll be a slight price surge in the first week of January, but I expect prices will continue to fall," he said. Components distributor Microtronica saw a 20 per cent drop in prices during November. Steve Clark, sales and marketing director at Microtronica, said prices for a 64MB DIMM (PC-100) were around £60 at the beginning of the month, and down to £53 by the last week of November. This meant an average unit price of £59.02 for the month, down on October’s average of £84.85. "We are back to February's prices," said Clark "But demand is fairly well matched to supply at the moment, so any increase for product will probably be met by a price increase." But he said prices were generally expected to soften as December progressed. Today DMC was quoting around £44 for a 64MB module, and Microtronica around £50, with system builders hanging on for Intel’s expected price cuts on Monday. Related story DRAM stabilises in quake wake