2/01/2012 06:23:00 PM
dannzfay
It appears that the memory industry may have finally gone past that stage where demand was so severely overshadowed by supply.
According to the most recent findings of DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the prices of memory modules and kits are stabilizing.
That is to say, the supply of chips and modules is no longer so much higher than demand, as was the case throughout 2011 and part of 2010.
At the moment, 4GB modules are priced, on average, at $16.5, which translates into 12.65 Euro.
No matter how one looks at it, this is a very convenient price point, so if anyone was waiting for more cuts, they won't be coming, so one may as well go buy memory now.
We actually wrote about how memory was the most convenient thing to buy, in terms of consumer technology, during the winter holidays.
Things have changed since then, though, in large part due to production capacity cuts and high caution on the part of vendors when making orders.
The prices of RAM chips haven't exactly started to go back up yet, but it is just a matter of time at this point.
This is not really a bad thing, of course, even though buyers never really rejoice at hearing that prices are going up.
Basically, this crisis was none too merciful on the companies that make the products, and it would have led to (more) job cuts and even the shutting down of some factories, if it had gone on much longer.
For the short-term, prices are expected to stabilize, or stay flat in other words, like they mostly did in January.
Low demand continues to be a concern, though, especially during the January-March period, traditionally considered the “weak” quarter of the year.
Thus, it is hard to tell when the contract quotes will recover and allow modules and kits to regain the value they lost.
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