Memory-chip Micron Technologies rose 3.9% today

[voltaire2030]

And now you know why you pay such a high price for RAM

Memory-chip maker Micron Technology rose 3.9% after tripling its profit on 16% sales growth during the first quarter.

Source Wall Street Journal today 22 dec. 2006

[irev210]

Your kidding right? *sigh*

Dude, Micron has the lowest margins in the entire DRAM industry. They would be even more screwed if they werent making decent coin on memory for enthusiast.

Plus, if Micron wasnt pumping out the great ram they have, we would all be using Elpedia and PROMOS.


Why not complain about the huge profit samsung is making, they dont even make ram atm that us Xtreme guys want.

Please dont post incorrect and fact-less information. This is almost as bad as FOX 10 o'clock news

There are lots of reasons why dram prices are high. eg: smaller dram co's upgrading to 90nm, vista a little, etc



Friendly reminder- nobody makes you buy Micron DRAM, there are plenty of good alternatives out there!

[breakfromyou]

RAM prices have been pretty ridiculous over the past few months. It makes sense though. DDR2 is in high demand since every new platform supports it, and I guess DDR just happens to follow that trend?

[irev210]

RAM prices have been pretty ridiculous over the past few months. It makes sense though. DDR2 is in high demand since every new platform supports it, and I guess DDR just happens to follow that trend?

Its not a single factor. It is a bunch of factors that all come together.

Transition to DDR2, DRAM fab space being taken off line for upgrades, strong consumer demand, increase in average amount of memory installed per computer, price of parts going up, etc. etc. etc.

wafer prices going up as well

All just factors in a big puzzle

[nn_step]

Its not a single factor. It is a bunch of factors that all come together.

Transition to DDR2, DRAM fab space being taken off line for upgrades, strong consumer demand, increase in average amount of memory installed per computer, price of parts going up, etc. etc. etc.

wafer prices going up as well

All just factors in a big puzzle

Not to mention all the costs that Micron is Racking up, in their strategy of Constant design improvements.
What was it, every 8 weeks a new mask or something crazy high like that.

[topaimz]

Why not complain about the huge profit samsung is making, they dont even make ram atm that us Xtreme guys want.

We can't complain because some one was already jailed for that

[hixie]

The reason prices are high is because most memory is assembled in China and the first week of October is public holiday. So all the factories close.
Low supply, same amount or more demand. Prices increase.

[Amey]

^^ Err correct me if i am wrong,but isnt the current month December ? and the coming one January ?

[irev210]

The reason prices are high is because most memory is assembled in China and the first week of October is public holiday. So all the factories close.
Low supply, same amount or more demand. Prices increase.

actually most of the memory used in the world is made by samsung and hynix, which are located in Korea.

The memory is made and assembled there.

A lot of memory is assembled in Malaysia and Taiwan, even in the USA they assemble a LOT of memory.


Anyway, China is not the reason why there has been DRAM shortage for the past 6 months. Interesting to hear your perspective though!

[GrimReaper]

actually most of the memory used in the world is made by samsung and hynix, which are located in Korea.

The memory is made and assembled there.

A lot of memory is assembled in Malaysia and Taiwan, even in the USA they assemble a LOT of memory.


Anyway, China is not the reason why there has been DRAM shortage for the past 6 months. Interesting to hear your perspective though!

dont forget Germany also afik supertalent, kingston hyperx and many more are mande in the USA

[ether.real]

none of those guys are memory makers....they just re-brand it and put it on modules. One thing to remember about Micron is that they are reducing their focus in DRAM and putting it in NAND Flash and CMOS Imagers, as these products have better margins (hence Micron's larger profit). While a lot of DRAMurai have been nailed for price fixing, Micron has not, so dont blame their profit on corporate greed, blame it on capitalism.

Also, "tripling their profit" meant something like increase of 15% on Net Sales, and a 6% increase in gross margin. So unless you know what you talking about, shut yo mouf.

[situman]

unless ur an investor, stock performance is irrelevant to us. a trippling of profits on only a 16% gain in sales growth is almost impossible unless they did some major cost cutting. There's always a certain amount of demand at a given price point on a supply/demand curve. They can jack up the price all they want, but if the demand isn't there its just a number! Now if ur an investor, ring the register and your money just got a +47% overclock.

[Revv23]

well demand for micron is high, so micron dram prices are pretty darn high, but as for dram in general, i think it's still pretty cheap, i mean, not cheap like pre conroe/am2 cheap, but still reasonable.

i mean you can still get 2g of DDR2 for under $200... doesnt seem like it's that high at all.

[ether.real]

a trippling of profits on only a 16% gain in sales growth is almost impossible unless they did some major cost cutting.

If you had a profit of $1 in Q1 and a profit of $3 in Q2, would that be so hard? $190 million in profit on a billion and half in sales is not that much.

[situman]

well demand for micron is high, so micron dram prices are pretty darn high, but as for dram in general, i think it's still pretty cheap, i mean, not cheap like pre conroe/am2 cheap, but still reasonable.

i mean you can still get 2g of DDR2 for under $200... doesnt seem like it's that high at all.

Its funny how we can find micron chips on value ram and the same chips can sell for twice as much.

[situman]

If you had a profit of $1 in Q1 and a profit of $3 in Q2, would that be so hard? $190 million in profit on a billion and half in sales is not that much.

no it wouldn't be hard, but what would be the reason? Major cost cutting, major surge in demand at elevated prices? In other words, a 16% sales growth should lead to about a 16% gain in profits at the same profit margins. Now if you tell me their margins trippled, then that would be cause of celebration and load up on the stock once it pulls back a little.

[ether.real]

Never underestimate the value of good binning.

[ether.real]

no it wouldn't be hard, but what would be the reason? Major cost cutting, major surge in demand at elevated prices? In other words, a 16% sales growth should lead to about a 16% gain in profits at the same profit margins. Now if you tell me their margins trippled, then that would be cause of celebration and load up on the stock once it pulls back a little.

Actually thats not true. Esp for semiconductors, much of the spending is a fixed value, ie R&D, QA, CapEx. Once you exceed a certain sales figure, profit margin cant help but go up.

[irev210]

none of those guys are memory makers....they just re-brand it and put it on modules. One thing to remember about Micron is that they are reducing their focus in DRAM and putting it in NAND Flash and CMOS Imagers, as these products have better margins (hence Micron's larger profit). While a lot of DRAMurai have been nailed for price fixing, Micron has not, so dont blame their profit on corporate greed, blame it on capitalism.

Also, "tripling their profit" meant something like increase of 15% on Net Sales, and a 6% increase in gross margin. So unless you know what you talking about, shut yo mouf.

IIRC, micron settled out of court, basicly narc'd out samsung etc etc to help save their butt.

They still got pretty screwed out of the Deal, I think they got taken back to court again anyway.

[ether.real]

There was one manager at Micron found price fixing. Once he was found out, he was quickly done away with and Micron proceded to cooperate with the DoJ.

[aMp]

There was one manager at Micron found price fixing. Once he was found out, he was quickly done away with and Micron proceded to cooperate with the DoJ.

Oho, that's rich! One lowly manager, acting alone, commits a multi-billion-dollar corporation to an international price-fixing scheme. If you believe that, I've got a bridge here in New York you might be interested in.

Back to the OP, though -- since when did increased profit in and of itself prove nefarious behavior? There could be plenty of legitimate reasons for that. Just off the top of my head, it's perfectly plausible that Micron's DDR2 manufacturing efficiencies are just now kicking in, allowing a higher margin until other manufacturers catch up.

[ether.real]

Oho, that's rich! One lowly manager, acting alone, commits a multi-billion-dollar corporation to an international price-fixing scheme. If you believe that, I've got a bridge here in New York you might be interested in.

Far from a "multi-billion dollar international price fixing scheme". The manager only had control of a small sales territory in the NE USA iirc. AFAIK, there is nothing to show Micron had anything to do with the price fixing schemes the koreans commonly involve themselves in.

[bazi]

Heres the new info about IC price it will grow so the memory price will grow too.

http://www.purchasing.com/article/CA....html?ref=nbcs