By Heather McLean, 2 January 2002 13:15
NEWS Korean semiconductor company Hynix has raised its contract customer chip prices by 30 per cent in a desperate bid to make some money. The price rise started last Tuesday, with the 30 per cent hike primarily affecting the company's 128MB DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips. Rival manufacturer Samsung said it may follow suit after Hynix's share price rose by 15 per cent - the shares daily limit - in the light of the announcement. Samsung and Hynix raised their prices in conjunction with each other in the latter part of 2001. Analysts predicted this latest price rise will help stimulate a full recovery for the troubled sector, but not until the third quarter of 2002. Hynix, which is the world's third-largest chipmaker, nearly collapsed last year after memory chip prices plunged. The company is in talks with US rival Micron Technology about a possible survival alliance, including a potential deal for the sale of its basic DRAM chip operations. A decision on the alliance is expected some time this month.
In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.
Log in or create your silicon.com account below