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posted by martyb on Thursday July 06 2017, @07:45AM   Printer-friendly
from the different-dynamics dept.

Micron has temporarily suspended operation of a DRAM production facility, leading to predictions of shortages and rising prices:

TrendForce reports that Micron suspended the operation of its Fab-2 DRAM production facility on June 1 due to a malfunctioning nitrogen gas dispensing system. Micron responded that while there was an event, it didn't involve nitrogen leaking. However, Micron's admission of a problem is telling, as TrendForce predicts the event will eliminate 5.5% of the global DRAM production capacity for July. Interestingly, the market analyst firm also claims this could lead to an impact on production for Apple's new iPhone.

The 5.5% output reduction may not sound like a significant event, but in the past, similar issues have served as the catalyst for massive shortages. This could exacerbate the ongoing DRAM shortage, which has already seen DRAM prices rise appreciably.

DRAM prices are on the rise due to slow transitions to new nodes and increased demand in PC, mobile, and server segments. TrendForce predicts that the first quarter of 2017 suffered a 30% increase in the average contract pricing for DIMM modules. Making matters worse, the soothsayer predicts that we will see another 10% increase this quarter, and that is before accounting for the recent production interruption.

Also at Reuters, which reports that Micron denies the event will affect its business:

"Regarding recent rumours about Micron's fabrication facility in Taoyuan, Taiwan, Micron hereby clarifies that there was no nitrogen leaking incident nor evacuating of personnel," Micron said in a statement. "There was indeed a minor facility event but operations are recovering speedily without material impact to the business."

[...] TrendForce analysts base their reports on channel checks in the supply chain, a media officer with TrendForce told Reuters.

It's the floods all over again!


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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday July 06 2017, @11:17AM (5 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday July 06 2017, @11:17AM (#535663)

    increased demand in PC...

    Since the NUC and similar form factors have come around, it's a lot easier to have 6-10 "PCs" at one's desk instead of just one or two.

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday July 06 2017, @11:38AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday July 06 2017, @11:38AM (#535672) Journal

    Internet of Terminals!

    Increased demand is a bit of an optimistic interpretation. More like the PC market has stabilized (mostly) and may see a slight demand increase next year according to prognosticators:

    Combined Handset, PC Shipments Expected to Decline [eetimes.com]
    Worldwide PC shipments stabilise [opi.net]
    PC bounce-back: Sales will rise for first time in seven years in 2018, says Gartner [channelweb.co.uk]
    PCs will get pricier and you're gonna like it, say Gartner market shamans [theregister.co.uk]

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  • (Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday July 06 2017, @02:08PM (3 children)

    by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 06 2017, @02:08PM (#535720)

    Now is a great time to get into PC gaming too. Well, other than the crypto-miners blowing up the GPU market. But there is a much larger support system for beginners these days.

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    • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday July 06 2017, @05:14PM (2 children)

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday July 06 2017, @05:14PM (#535783)

      Maybe I just don't care since my first "gaming console" was an Atari 800 playing "Star Raiders" but, seriously folks, aren't there enough time wasting titles out there that run on embedded graphics? I mean, 10 years ago embedded graphics were indeed rather dodgy for anything even as demanding as "Star Raiders," but since roughly Broadwell, the embedded graphics have been good enough for most things I try to play, and they are still improving with each generation.

      Of course, I spent 3 hours this weekend playing StarCraft Anthology, so what do I know?

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      • (Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday July 06 2017, @06:44PM (1 child)

        by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 06 2017, @06:44PM (#535826)

        Oh, for sure. There are (mostly indie) games coming out every week that require very little graphics hardware. But if you want to experience something like Subnautica or Doom (2016) then more hardware will be required.

        I think that's the great thing about the current state of gaming. Even niche genre's are getting more and more titles. Low-graphics is probably a kind of meta-genre.

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        • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday July 06 2017, @09:37PM

          by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday July 06 2017, @09:37PM (#535891)

          From my perspective, today's "low graphics" are still far and away better than anything that was available when, oh, say Crysis came out, and I'm not talking about how Crysis runs on today's hardware, I'm talking about sub $10K machines and games that were available in 2007.

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