North America

Traders discussed discrete spot chip prices fortified on the back of solid demand coming mostly from interest in back-to-school business. PC 133 spec prices were said moving up, with the price range adjusted by $0.30/chip on the low end and $0.20/chip on the upper for a spread of $3.70 to $4/chip. West Coast manufacturers using DDR PC 2700 spec 333 chips verified buying material at lifted prices, with the posted range moving up by $0.19/chip on both ends of the band. Manufacturers said module prices were pressured up due to better prices getting paid for the chips. Little discussion emerged concerning spec 266 and spec 400 on Thursday, but these ranges were considered notional and under slight upward pressure based on market sentiment.

Asia/Pacific

Prices of first-tier DDR 266/333/400 32x8 were stable at $2.68/chip respectively for the second consecutive day after shedding $0.02/chip on Wednesday. Buyers were lobbying for lower prices as month-end pressure kicks in. However, sellers did not reduce prices further as they argued that spot supply has not been ample since DRAM makers started to reallocate resources to produce Nand Flash and DDR2.

Europe

DRAM prices remained stable on Friday, with 256MB DDR 400 modules quoted at $22.50 to $26.00/module and 512MB DDR 400s at $44 to $50/module. Sources said the firmness was due to month-end selling, but that further price increases were expected next week due to the ongoing tightness in the market. Chip prices also held steady at $2.50 to $3/chip for 32x8 DDR 400 components. DDR 333 chip prices are quoted at $2.40 to $2.90/chip.

The global DRAM pricing report is provided by Reed Business Information’s ICIS-LOR in the United Kingdom, Singapore and Houston. For more detailed information, register at http://www.icislor.com/reedelectronics/.