DRam delivery in doldrums

A leaked document from a major memory manufacturer indicates that cutbacks in DRam production will mean shortfalls in supply over the next nine months.

To add further woe to PC makers, other components are facing supply constraints, including graphics cards.

The graph below suggests that DRam makers will turn the stopcocks off to stabilise pricing, following the volatile pricing earlier this year.

According to one source, manufacturers were not making money on the chips they were producing, which forced them to switch fab capacity to other semiconductor products.

Japanese makers, in particular, have the capacity to do so, but that will put pressure on other Far Eastern companies, including Samsung and Goldstar.

Distributors and major OEMs are being told to forward order up to eight to 12 weeks to make sure they have supplies.

But although there is upward pressure on memory prices, this is an artificial situation as major DRam makers have over a month's worth of excess stock.

The problem for dealers and distributors on memory and other components in short supply is that there is still buoyant growth in the market. Analysts suggest the figure could be as much as 18 per cent in Europe over the coming year. Chip sets are also in short supply.