DRAM makers: No back-to-school demand, how about Christmas?
With back to school demand being weaker than expected in the DRAM market, Taiwan-based memory makers, including Nanya Technology, Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation (PSC), Inotera Memories and ProMOS Technologies, are now eying the Christmas season, and their outlook is not that good. With memory prices going lower and the slow transition to DDR2 the market is slow.
With reference to DRAM demand trends, Inotera indicated that it is not as optimistic about the market outlook as it was one quarter ago amid the specter of continued high crude oil prices limiting buying incentives, according to company president Charles Kau. DRAM prices did not pick up in September or in early October as they do traditionally, which implies weaker than expected back-to-school demand, Kau was quoted by the Chinese-language Apple Daily News as saying. Although the DRAM market will not fare as badly as most observers predicted this year, as migration to NAND flash production suppressed DRAM capacity growth, Kau still believes demand will remain lukewarm through Christmas. Nanya vice president of global sales and marketing, Pei-lin Pai, echoed the sentiment, saying Christmas demand this year should be weaker than it was in the last couple of years, as recent demand has been lower than expected amid pressure from crude oil prices, he added.
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