THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 8, 1996 TAG: 9604060192
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROGER GRIMES, SPECIAL TO BUSINESS WEEKLY
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Lagging personal computer sales coupled with a higher than normal DRAM chip supply have pushed RAM memory prices to the lowest point ever.
A 72-pin, 8 megabyte RAM chip that used to sell for as much as $300 last year, is going for as low as $102 in Hampton Roads.
Kingston Technology, the world's leading independent manufacturer of memory products, is one of several memory companies to slash prices in recent weeks.
``Memory supply has been improving over the past several weeks - in part due to the increased availability of DRAM from new fabrication plants coming on line, and also from a slight softening of the PC market in the fourth quarter'', said Kingston marketing vice president Gary MacDonald.
While there's an oversupply of memory production, consumers and businesses still need more RAM to feed their existing Windows and Windows NT software.
``More and more RAM is needed to feed software applications. Used to be that if you had 8 megabytes of RAM on your PC, that you had a power machine. I now buy machines with 16 megabytes to start with, and with Windows NT over the horizon, we'll probably need lots more.'' said Jason Crenshaw, a network technician for Maryview Medical Center of Portsmouth.
Lower RAM prices also mean lower priced PCs for all consumers.
Indeed, falling RAM prices are part of the equation in the latest PC price war, where Compaq and other PC vendors have cut sales prices as much as 20 percent.
No one can forecast how long the current RAM prices will remain at their current low. Consumer buying habits will determine how long the excess supply remains.
``It's already headed back up quickly, but it should be a short-term rise,'' said Keith Williams, a memory buyer for Tidewater Computers. ``A week ago, the resell price was as low as $14 per megabyte. And we expect it to be up to $20 per megabyte by the end of next week. And it could go back down again.'' by CNB