10.15.2001
Samsung and Hynix dump DRAM: Spot price hits new lows

• Samsung, the top global DRAM player and Hynix, no. 3 player are dumping DRAM into the spot market. 128MB DRAM spot price plummeted to US$0.99, far below manufacturing cost. In further disappointment, Hynix yet again extended their current loan for US$740m to help solve its debt problem. Both firms are pressured by oversupply in DRAM, which has been worsened by weak global demand and full utilization production among respective DRAM rivals. The new low in DRAM price will widen losses more severely than before for players around the globe. We still contend that the DRAM industry will endure a long winter. As results from recent developments, we have adjusted the ratings for ProMos and Powerchip. We have downgraded ProMos from Outperform to Neutral and Powerchip from Neutral to Underperform