US memory company Micron, currently in the deepest of negotiations with Korean Dramurai Hynix, is waiting to see what happens before hiking the price of its own memory modules.
That follows a decision by Hynix, soon to be followed by Samsung, to unilaterally raise prices on its memory chips by a whopping 30 per cent. It may raise prices if everyone else does.
But according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Micron is waiting to see what will happen before following suit.
Some memory observers wonder why, given that there"s still a glut of DRAM floating around in the channel and amongst PC and other customers, why Hynix decided to make such a pre-emptive move in the marketplace.
The announcement by the leading US semiconductor trade association only offered minor respite for manufacturers in 2002.
While the Dramurai might raise prices across the board, the situation is a little like that in Mr Shakespeare"s playlet Ye Tempest. In other words, it may be possible to call demons (price rises) from the deep, but will they come?
Spot prices of memory continued to rise in Asia on the news. As Hynix claimed it was raising DRAM prices because of the spot market, is it going to hike them up again?