iSuppli: DRAM revenue falls, market disappears

According to DRAMeXchange, an online clearing house for the chips, the portion of DRAM sold by contract rose to 77% in August from 67% in January, while the spot market contracted to 23% from 33%. During the most recent pricing talks, contract prices rose only 1.2% for the major varieties - double data rate chips that run at speeds of 266-, 333-, and 400-megahertz - according to DRAMeXchange, while market watchers were expecting a 5% rise. Contract prices are negotiated every two weeks.

iSuppli has forecast DRAM revenue to rise 8.3% on year in 2003 to $16.7 billion.