By Bonnie Lin, Marketing Intelligence Team, DRAMeXchange
From March 22nd to March 29th, the prices of mainstreamed DDR items were still in the downtrend level. Except Thursday, the demand emerging from Hong Kong has finally helped the price stop falling temporarily. Roughly speaking, the DDR 400/333/266 has declined 2, 3, and 5 percent, separately, up to today.
Two dollar's magic
As people expected eTT( effective Test Type) would drop below $2, the price seemed to be cursed, from $2.234 on March 22nd to $2.038 today, March 29th closing with 9 percent downward. Most traders predicted that it is foreseeable for the price decline; as a result, the transactions were limited at close today.
Easter holiday
Thank to the 4-day Easter holiday (from March 25th to March 28th) in Hong Kong, many manufacturers have worried about their product lines being affected. To ensure the timely shipments, they bought DDR chips from the spot market to consequently stop the price tumbledown, in just one day, on Thursday, March 24th.
Prices still helplessly tumble down when DDR400/333/266 is closed at $2.43, $2.42 and $2.43, respectively today.
A money-losing position
Given the weak demand and an uptight March sales report, many sellers have released their inventories at a very low price. However, strictly speaking, they are losing money. (See Chart I) From the mid-March, the ASP (average selling price) for DDR 32Mx8 400MHz has been sold below its cost.
No wonder, most sellers still view the future pessimistically.
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