14 DAY TRIAL // Random access memory manufacturing industry is going through another crisis as the market is simply overflowing with DRAM memory modules and suppliers and retail channel dealers are forced to severely cut all price tags in order to attract more customers. But problems do not stop here as several market analysts predict that memory prices will go even lower than the actual mark.
Currently the most widely used memory chips comes in the form of a 512 MB DDR2 chip and it runs at 667MHz and its price tags just went down with 12.5 percent from two weeks ago, reaching an all times low point of $1.75. According to the news site computerworld this new low price tag is great for the end users that may want to upgrade their computer systems as they will pay less for a higher amount of memory.
Even for computer users that are traditionally purchasing branded systems, the low price of DDR2 memory modules is proving beneficial as system integrators like Dell or HP are more likely to include higher quantities of RAM while keeping the total price of the system constant. While most computer manufacturers are less likely to go for such a strategy, the big names are usually offering in times like these many promotions and the end users are the ones to mostly benefit from these strategies.
Most computer memory manufacturing companies started building more and more production lines as they expected that the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system would usher a huge demand of memory modules on the market, but as Vista's sales were far lower than projected, a whole branch of the computer industry found itself sitting on large memory inventories.
It is possible that the DRAM market may very well see another low price record similar with the one that was reached in May when prices were so low that some memory manufacturing companies were refusing orders that brought no profit. "However," a Gartner spokesperson said, "we may see some activity below this level, because some brokers and distributors who are holding inventory may be prepared to sell at a lower price to clear stock."
The DRAM memory chips price tags went down almost 40 percent during the first part of the year and that happened while the total shipments rose by 66 percent, so the memory market is still growing despite low selling price tags.