OMG, DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) CL9 memory prices!!

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Eldata

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 10, 2011
Messages
366
Just checked on 4GB (2X2GB) and 8GB (2X4GB) memory prices at Micro Center and compared them to what I paid the last time purchased there;

4GB $49.99 (now) $22.99 (11/18/12)
8GB $79.99 (now) $62.99 (06/06/13)

Above prices are for Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) CL9 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit (Two Memory Modules) at MC. The “now” prices seem to be comparable with those of other brands at other dealers.

Why on earth are DDR3 memory prices rising while SSD/HDD and just about everything else are seeing falling prices? Should we be hoarding DDR3 memory?
 
Why on earth are DDR3 memory prices rising while SSD/HDD and just about everything else are seeing falling prices?
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Quite some time ago there was a fire at one of the manufacturers plants. This caused a shortage in supply and prices for all modules increased (regardless of the manufacturer) similar to how the Thailand flood of 2011 caused hard drive prices to rise. In both cases we have still not fully returned to the prices we had before the accident / flood.

On top of that some production is moving to ddr4.
 
drescherjm said:
Quite some time ago there was a fire at one of the manufacturers plants. This caused a shortage in supply and prices for all modules increased (regardless of the manufacturer) similar to how the Thailand flood of 2011 caused hard drive prices to rise. In both cases we have still not fully returned to the prices we had before the accident / flood.

On top of that some production is moving to ddr4.
Click to expand...

This article seems to indicate that prices were rising since Dec 2012 and the fire made things worse;

http://www.extremetech.com/computin...spikes-in-wake-of-hynix-fire-but-for-how-long

But this quote from above confirms your point;

"Just as hard drive manufacturers had good reason to ride the long profit tail that came out of the manufacturing troubles, DDR manufacturers utterly unaffected by Hynix’s burnout are going to work this angle to enhance their own bottom lines"

Still not certain whether to buy now or wait.
 
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I just do micro hunts on Amazon. Sometimes you can pick up a bargain if you look hard enough.

Picked up ram £20 cheaper than anywhere else sometimes.
 
drescherjm said:
Quite some time ago there was a fire at one of the manufacturers plants. This caused a shortage in supply and prices for all modules increased (regardless of the manufacturer) similar to how the Thailand flood of 2011 caused hard drive prices to rise. In both cases we have still not fully returned to the prices we had before the accident / flood.

On top of that some production is moving to ddr4.
Click to expand...

Eldata said:
This article seems to indicate that prices were rising since Dec 2012 and the fire made things worse;

http://www.extremetech.com/computin...spikes-in-wake-of-hynix-fire-but-for-how-long

But this quote from above confirms your point;

"Just as hard drive manufacturers had good reason to ride the long profit tail that came out of the manufacturing troubles, DDR manufacturers utterly unaffected by Hynix’s burnout are going to work this angle to enhance their own bottom lines"

Still not certain whether to buy now or wait.
Click to expand...

The fire did NOTHING to effect supply or production per Hynix's own press releases.

The price gounging since then is just that. Price gouging, because they can....and market analysts are stupid enough to try to rationalize corruption with supply/demand theory that they can get away with it.

See:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...-computer-memory-chip-factory-after-fire.html

And I quote:

Hynix said:
there is no material damage to the fab equipment in the clean room, thus we expect to resume operations in a short time period so that overall production and supply volume would not be materially affected,
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I would also note that the HDD price spikes had nothing to do with supply and demand either. Retailers jacked up prices over fears of a shortage...which never occurred. Long after production resumed normally prices were still elevated. Because the HDD manufacturers found demand was not effected by the hikes. Why sell something for one price, when you can sell it for twice the price and still sell just as many?
 
Skripka said:
I would also note that the HDD price spikes had nothing to do with supply and demand either. Retailers jacked up prices over fears of a shortage...which never occurred. Long after production resumed normally prices were still elevated. Because the HDD manufacturers found demand was not effected by the hikes. Why sell something for one price, when you can sell it for twice the price and still sell just as many?
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I agree....supply and demand had nothing to do with it. The hard drive makers took advantage of the fact that there is very little meaningful competition in the industry any more. People paid the higher prices because they had no choice, not because they were happy with them. However, the short term gain they realized by gouging like they did spurred rapid growth in SSD technology, and this growth will end up hurting the HDD cabal far more than they benefited from the period of goosed profits.

I think they knew this but didn't care...the executives in charge at the time that enjoyed the extra profits won't be the ones dealing with ever-encroaching SSDs. This strategy is a very narrow vision of living fast today without adequate investment in the future that too many executives in all industries today indulge in. It's one that I feel strongly is one of the greatest threats that exists today to the future of many companies.
 
lutjens said:
~
This strategy is a very narrow vision of living fast today without adequate investment in the future that too many executives in all industries today indulge in. It's one that I feel strongly is one of the greatest threats that exists today to the future of many companies.
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The allure of "easy street", obtaining our own one way ticket to "Elysium" here on earth. Unfortunately, most of us share the same ambitions so it's left to wars and natural disasters to reshape the status quo.
 
Skripka said:
The fire did NOTHING to effect supply or production per Hynix's own press releases.

The price gounging since then is just that. Price gouging, because they can....and market analysts are stupid enough to try to rationalize corruption with supply/demand theory that they can get away with it.

See:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...-computer-memory-chip-factory-after-fire.html

And I quote:




I would also note that the HDD price spikes had nothing to do with supply and demand either. Retailers jacked up prices over fears of a shortage...which never occurred. Long after production resumed normally prices were still elevated. Because the HDD manufacturers found demand was not effected by the hikes. Why sell something for one price, when you can sell it for twice the price and still sell just as many?
Click to expand...

It is not gouging if the market is willing to pay it. There is supply, demand, and perceived value. It's the same reason Apple can sell what should be a $2000 laptop at an asking price of $2500 using only $1000 in parts. Yes that is an exaggerated example, but Apple's products and prices seem to fit perfectly for this situation.

Perceived value ties directly into demand. Customers want the product and are willing to pay for it. Manufacturers are no longer flooding the market with too much supply. The price continues to increase until demand begins to waiver, then an equilibrium hits.The market is doing what it is supposed to. It appears we have hit a sort of equilibrium. You said it yourself, why sell something for a low price when you can sell just as many for more money? Manfuacturers aren't bound to those lower prices, thats just plain stupid. Put yourself in their position for a minute: If you ran a business and sold widgets for x dollars, then someone makes you an offer to buy the same widgets for 2x dollars, are you going to say no?
 
Tsumi said:
All those links prove absolutely nothing.

Price fixing can only be done if all sellers of the hardware intentionally work together to set prices. Observing the competition and setting prices based on the competition is not price fixing.
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Wasn't trying to prove anything, those were educational links. The only certainty here is uncertainty. Unless of course, you represent one of the usual suspects and know what's going on.

Another link;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collusion

"In the study of economics and market competition, collusion takes place within an industry when rival companies cooperate for their mutual benefit."
 
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I bought this in February 2012. From the electronic receipt.


2ez1h6p.png



Now, the same kit, has as lowest price in all country 141 euros...

I 'd like 8GB more RAM (for spare parts), but i am still waiting for a miracle to see the prices drop. It's ridiculous.


Another kit in March 2012:

30uedg3.jpg


This is from another kit i bought in July 2012. Slowly creeping up.

2qnz8z5.png


And then kaboom! They want insane money for it...
 
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All those prices are "cheap" compared to the prices we have here, $100-160 for a 2x4GB 1600-1866mhz kit. Even the generic kits have gone up in price.
 
Thanks for this thread: I thought I was hallucinating when I priced some ECC registered RAM a few days ago. Looks like I'll be scrimping with my stock 4gigs for the time being. :(
 
Was thinking about going to X79 so I could increase my RAM from 32GB to 64GB. I got my 32GB (4x8GB) during a super deal on Amazon for like $80 in early 2013.

I really want more RAM for a bigger RAMDisk and more VM testing flexibility...

but then I read this thread. @ those prices, fuck that shit! :eek:
 
I just upgraded to 64GB. It was a bit painful. I was working on some code last weekend and ran out of ram. Adding another 32GB cost me $300. I'm kicking myself for not going to 64 around Christmas 2012 now, but at the time I figured I'd wait until when and if I actually needed it. Now I've got the cheap 2011 CPU (i7-3820) on a fully populated board. No regrets on 2011 though. I'm using the PCI-e slots too- SLI 680s and a DDR Infiniband (20Gibit/s) NIC.
 
xref said:
Yeah memory prices have more than doubled since I got mine.

12-13%20DDR3.PNG
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I bought the same kit in August last year for $110. I was just looking today and the MSRP is up to $190 :eek:.

Whoops, I'm sorry. I got the CL9 (CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9) kit and the picture is the CL10.
 
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