Memory rollercoaster set to continue

Price fluctuations in the memory market are likely to continue, with many smaller resellers and distributors reporting that they are being affected by price reductions.

Price fluctuations in the memory market are likely to continue, with many smaller resellers and distributors reporting that they are being affected by price reductions.

In January, DRam model prices fell by an average of 23 per cent, making prices 70 per cent lower than six months ago.

Brigitte Haas, European PR manager for memory vendor Kingston Technology, said the falls could not be predicted and were likely to continue for some time. "No one really knows where memory prices will go in the next 12 months. That is a fact. Small companies are always the victims because they buy in advance, and the prices they bought at have gone through the floor."

It has been a tumultuous year for the memory market. In August, David Flack, marketing manager for distributor Memory Plus, said he expected memory prices to triple those in January last year. "In January we sold 128Mb of SDRam for £61, currently we sell it for £91 and by the end of the year we expect it to cost over £150," he said.

Ashim Pal, program director at analyst Meta Group, said that the memory market will always be volatile because it has a "boom and bust" mentality.

"The problem with the memory market is that some years there is a shortage of memory which affects the price and means companies can virtually charge what they like," he said, adding that the problem is caused when the market becomes flooded and prices drop. "It is often the smaller firms that go under," he explained.

Memory manufacturer Hypetec is one of the companies affected by the price falls. The Berkshire-based memory specialist works in partnership with major chip manufacturers Intel, Kingston and Micron. It has also recently broadened its range of products to include PC batteries and AC and DC adapters.

Lianne Denness, Hypertec's managing director, admitted that the company did have a poor year but said that the long-term future looked bright. "[Hypertec remains] very much alive and I hope to have a number of new announcements to make in the future," she said.

First published in Computer Reseller News