By RICHARD WOOD
Shoppers who put off buying computer memory before Christmas have come back to a rude shock, finding memory chip prices up 150 per cent in some cases.
A typical 256 megabyte SDRam module, the most common PC memory type, which was about $60 retail before Christmas, is now $150 and climbing, says Victor Yang, general manager of component and systems wholesaler Checksun.
He says this adds about $100 to the price of a PC system - $200 if a computer with 512Mb of memory is required.
Video cards, which typically have 32Mb of memory, now cost extra too.
Distributor Dove Electronics product manager Marcus van Gerwen confirms that memory prices have jumped - by about 100 per cent, he estimates.
He says the price continued to rise "much to the consternation of punters who put off buying at the end of last year".
Street prices of a 256Mb PC would be an additional $150, and demand has already dropped for 512Mb memory upgrades.
"512Mb was a bit of a luxury for a PC, but at the low prices last year it was a good deal."
A number of global factors are to blame, says TL Systems customer service manager Joshua Smith. The major factor was the end of a price war that dogged the memory industry from the middle of last year, driving prices to a historic low in November.
The war coincided with the release of new DDR and Rambus memory, causing dumping of the older SDRam modules as manufacturers retooled their factories.
Industry sources point to intense competition between Hynix, which is part of the Korean Hyundai Group, and Micron, the world's leading supplier of memory chips.
The industry was overproducing while the IT industry slowed, and the industry had gone below economic manufacturing levels. The present price is described as only "break even" for manufacturers.
Mr van Gerwen says the Chinese New Year may mean further price rises as Asian suppliers cut back production for three or four weeks.
Cheap upgrades just a distant memory
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