There's the possibility that there may be a shortage of DIMMs next year, driving up memory prices, if you read between the lines of the DigiTimes story.

So what will be driving this, you may ask?  Will it be the uptake of Windows Vista and the extra memory requirements it has?  No.

Will it be due to people buying lots of new machines?  No.

Will it be due to lack of DRAM manufacturing capacity?  No.

Will it be due to the 'dramurai' jacking up prices?  No.

No, the potential shortage (if it happens) will be due to a lack of packaging and testing facilities.  So, while the DRAM manufacturers are busy building extra manufacturing capacity that will be coming on line next year, the companies that package that DRAM into DIMMs and then test the packages will be running at full capacity or a bit more, resulting in an increase in DIMM prices even as DRAM prices are dropping.

Comment in the forums!

Recommend on: