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Tech Industry Warns Of Memory / LCD Shortage
yankeehack writes: "Oh Joy! The Standard published this article which explains predicted shortages of critical memory and LCD components (resulting in-of course-higher prices and delayed product launches). Component makers including Intel, Hyundai, NEC and Sharp Electronics are among those quoted for the article. Those afflicted by the shortage include Nintendo's Game Boy Advanced handheld console (Does anybody *still* use those?) which will be released 6 months late and mobile phone manufacturers, who are having trouble getting the hardware for all those nifty features they advertise."
I thought for a moment that you said there would be a memory and LSD shortage. Had me worried there.
Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
Our assembly house recently bought a reel of 330 uF tantalum caps for US$15/piece. With an MOQ of 1000, that cost US$15,000, which is more than the average new car in this country! (.nz) That's one reel of capacitors! The guy had about an hour to make the decision to buy before someone else bought it instead.
This problem is not new. It is just getting worse. We have been told tantalums will be impossible to get (for prototyping groups like ourselves) in the next few months.
For some reason, we haven't had difficulty getting flash ROMs like other people have. I put that down to the package type (PLCC) we use.
Has not yet been released, so it wouldn't really be that surprising for someone to be useing one because of it's old age, would it?
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
Ok big shock. Extreme shortages around times when people are buying more, allowing for increased prices.
Does this sound fishy to anyone else? It sounds to me like the hardware industry is taking advantage of the record number of computers and other devices that will be sold this year.
Maybe I'm just being paranoid but this isn't the only "shortage" we're having. Gotten gas lately?
People may be getting a little more greedy....
Of course! How else am I going to play Pokémon?
Sources of the DRAM drought:
First, Japanese companies stepped up production and captured market share in the US.
Second, Japan prevented American companies from marketing there (among many other protectionist measures).
Third, the US, concerned about the imbalance of trade, passed an anti-dumping law. Companies importing products like DRAM at prices far below the existing US market could have their products blocked or tariffed punitively.
Fourth, crushed by increasingly tight margins in the RAM market, American companies switched to mainly producing processors.
Thus, despite the law, intended to help American companies compete in the RAM market, there were few American companies selling RAM anymore; and RAM coming in from Japan, then the main source, was either turned away or heavily taxed. The end result was that the only RAM available was expensive.
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lake effect weblog
{Network engineer in Chicago--looking for work!}
Pricewatch still sells 64MB of SDRAM for $49. Pretty damn good prices. Usually you see the prices drop before you read an article like this. I don't remember what the prices were like back in February (too much up and down). I don't think comparing today's $8.50 to February's $4.50 is a good example, considering that February was close to an all time low.
I still can't believe this article came out before the prices dropped, so if you do believe the article, go buy your Dimms up today. Or wait through the storm, like I had to late last year ($2.50 + per MB?? ouch)
Oh no?! Does this mean that's Intel dream of RDRAM being the Next Big Thing(tm) will be even MORE expensive? Ha! Bastard hype.
Now LCD displays, that should be interesting. I wonder if these new, sharp TFT displays are eating up resources?
Rader
"It is majorly ironic that the Game Boy is the most successful video game unit ever yet it receives the least press of all the systems. With a ten-year life span and sales exceeding 80 million units worldwide, you'd think the Game Boy would have more to show in terms of coverage. The latest retail sales data indicates that handheld gaming represents 19 percent of all U.S. video game purchases, the overwhelming bulk of which can be directly traced back to the Game Boy. So we can only wonder why such a powerfully selling system garners significantly less attention than its larger console cousins get." --http://www.gbstation.com/editorials/093099.html
"Does anybody still use those?" -- Slashdot reader yankeehack