09.13.2001
DRAM spot price sets record low - again

• Development: 128MB SDRAM spot price set a record low of US$1.28 yesterday. Demand for back to school and Christmas is likely to disappoint due to New York’s terrorist attacks.

• Analysis: Worldwide economic downturn combined with the tragedy in the US will extend recovery time for DRAM demand. Additionally, the close of UMC’s (2303.TT) LPD department, may result NT$5.0bn worth of DRAM and SDRAM being dumped into the spot market causing further downward price pressure. On the positive side, Micron plans to sue only Hynix, not Taiwan DRAM players.

• Primasia View: We believe the DRAM sector is unlikely to recover in 4Q01 as originally anticipated.