Price will trade down this week with little demand.

:: Down - this week.

Reason - just simply no foreseeable demand this week (plus oversupply).

This week, to be honest, there is not much story to tell or weekly/short-term market information. Prices are trading down for both SDRAM and DDR this week because we don't see demand coming yet. It will be hard without positive market sentiment to help DRAM makers or marketers to maintain prices. The short-term orders which came from the US/Europe seeking SDRAM have already been filled and we are seeing no new rush orders from those areas yet. Originally, Feb and March should be the hot season for Mainland China to refill/replenish orders after Chinese New Year; but so far the most anticipative market has disappointed most of us in terms of its IT expenditures.

:: Prices crossover between 256Mb SDRAM and DDR.

Figure: Price performance -Price crossover between 256Mb SDRAM and DDR.

Since DDR prices have dropped down dramatically, the price difference between SDRAM and DDR has been eliminated. Motherboard companies have observed the price performance and reduced their SDRAM module ratio for entry-level clone market models which they are selling to very price sensitive markets. From this perspective, SDRAM demand for those new clone PCs will gradually decrease in the future. However, the information we get from the channel is saying that Intel still has some SDRAM chipsets to clean up. Therefore, we can't say SDRAM prices won't have another chance to rebound in the future.