Micron Faces Plunging Memory Chip Prices

Memory chip manufacturer Micron (NASDAQ: MU) reported slight declines in pricing for both DRAM and NAND memory chips in its most recent quarter. The company warned about sluggish sales of both smartphones and PCs for the rest of the year, providing revenue guidance that was well below analyst expectations.

According to fresh estimates from TrendForce, the pain in the memory chip markets won't be contained to consumer products. TrendForce now expects pricing for DRAM and NAND to potentially decline by double-digit percentages in the third quarter compared with the second quarter, with server DRAM and enterprise SSD prices plunging right along with everything else.

For the most part, memory chips are commodity products. Prices rise and fall based on supply and demand, and brand names don't matter all that much. A consumer with a smartphone probably has no idea what company manufactured the DRAM or NAND chips in his or her device. The semiconductor industry in general is cyclical, but memory chips are more prone to sharp swings in prices than CPUs, GPUs, and other types of chips.

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Source Fool.com