PC OEMs are sitting on 10 weeks-plus of DRAM, says Trendforce
- Reference: 1645185847
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/02/18/pc_oem_dram_supply/
- Source link:
Trendforce [1]said this is all attributable to the pandemic: supply chain issues impeded the ability to produce and sell consumer electronics. Since companies couldn't manufacture the devices, the companies didn't stock memory chips to go in them.
As a result, most DRAM fabs underwent an average 5.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter drop in Q4 '21 shipments to around $25bn, leading them to lower prices.
[2]
Q1 '22 isn't looking that grand either for the market as those with supply will focus on getting rid of extra stock, which in turn will cause DRAM output to fall even further.
[3]Cisco can't say when long waits for hardware will end
[4]Qualcomm jumps on Wi-Fi 7 bandwagon amid chip shortage
[5]China's top chipmaker pivots to domestic sales, struggles to satisfy demand
[6]China tech market growth to slow in 2022, says Forrester
A few suppliers bucked the trend – like SK Hynix, which rose 2.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter to have the second highest market share of DRAM manufacturers at almost 30 per cent, just under Samsung, which fell slightly from 44 to 42.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter. Trendforce said the company will most likely have a decline in shipments next quarter, which will serve as a type of market correction on SK Hynix's success.
The rise in market share for SK Hynix did not save it from a fall in Q4 '21 performance. The South Korean supplier's operating profit margins were reduced by 45 per cent. Comparatively, Samsung's fell 50 per cent and Micron's 41 per cent. That's also expected to continue in Q1 '22.
[7]
"Manufacturers can only increase the proportion of advanced processes and optimize their product portfolio to reduce the impact brought on by price pressure," wrote Trendforce.
Likewise, Samsung [8]named the global supply chain as the reason it failed to meet its own guidance for DRAM shipments in the last three months of 2021. Samsung alluded to protecting profit over volumes by saying it would not be engaging in aggressive sales tactics during its investors call. ®
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[1] https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20220217-11128.html
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/storage&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Yg-QuJqlEQqnZvS2iEyEoAAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/17/cisco_q2_2022_shortages/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/14/qualcomm_joins_wifi_7/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/14/smic_q4_2021/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/10/apac_tech_growth_prospects_2022/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/storage&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yg-QuJqlEQqnZvS2iEyEoAAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/27/samsung_4q21/
[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Unfortunately in consumer-land, I would never expect average joe to be able to discern the difference buying good kit makes
Sometimes suppliers make it difficult even for us nerds to work out what's going on. Look at the [1]WD Red drives for an example.
[1] https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/14/wd-red-nas-drives-shingled-magnetic-recording/
Moan Time
If i look at the capability of the Raspberry Pi 4, it has an SD Card slot, 4 USB ports, 2 HDMI ports, processor and 8GB of DRAM, bluetooth, ethernet port, and wireless capability - all on one board. Costs £60
When i look at a 17inch laptop from HP using AMD Ryzen 5 processor, 16GB RAM, 512GByte SSD Drive, 3 USB ports, 1 HDMI port, bluetooth, wifi, AMD graphics, keyboard, 1080 screen, battery, speakers and headphone and microphone port, PSU - all for £650.
The specification of the processor and DRAM, with the keyboard, battery and PSU etc., is not worth the extra £590.
They really are taking the piss. This is the same for other manufacturers too. There is no DVD drive, no ethernet port, no expansion capability such as a mechanical hard disk for local storage, despite that there is space for it in the footprint.
For something that costs 10x more, you really are not getting good value for money, compounded by the reduced connectivity of the laptop. Complete w*nkers.
Re: Moan Time
I disagree on the benefit but not the cost. Until there is a RPI based keyboard with an attached monitor, the gleaming benefit of a laptop/2-in-1/etc. is the fact that there is a keyboard attached to a monitor which help things stay physically stable for usage. Of course if there was quality keyboards and quality monitors powered by a RPI, the price would be around $350 (guesstimate). Most likely cheaper yes but, nobody is doing it.
P.S. I'm still waiting on tablets that can take video-in so they can be used as monitors independently of their underlying operating system... seems very doable but again nobody is doing it.
Re: Moan Time
What a nonsense complaint. For a start, a single core of that Ryzen processor in that HP laptop eats the weak ARM processor of the RasPi for lunch, and so does Ryzen's GPU for the Pi's and the HP's SSD for the Pi's SD card storage.
And the 8GB Pi4 is no longer £60 but £75. Which, ironically, doesn't even include a power supply, a battery or a case, but that HP laptop does.
Don't get me wrong, RasPis are great for what they are, but it's idiotic to put it next to a much faster standard laptop that also runs all the standard software that is out there and then complain that it's more expensive.
Re: Moan Time
"...then complain that it's more expensive."
Yeh, but generally people complaining in that manner are not complaining that it's more expensive but that it's too expensive.
Re: Moan Time
"Yeh, but generally people complaining in that manner are not complaining that it's more expensive but that it's too expensive."
Is it? Looking at it, £75 is still OK if you need a SBC for a hobby project. But if one wants a portable PC with a large screen that runs your standard software then a measly naked PCB with an underpowered ARM processor doesn't look that great even if it was still only £60. And yes, you *could* add all the other stuff that's missing (a screen, a case, a battery, a power supply, a keyboard, a touchpad, a SATA port, a SSD) and you might end up with something resembling a laptop, but it's still an underpowered ARM processor that doesn't run most of your standard software out there.
£650 retail for a big brand Ryzen laptop with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD (and which most certainly will also come with a Windows license) doesn't really strike me as excessive, even more so when we're still in a major component shortage and the price of most goods has gone up notably since it started.
It simply was an idiotic complaint.
Re: Moan Time
The key phrase from me was "The specification of the processor and DRAM, with the keyboard, battery and PSU etc., is not worth the extra £590."
I paid £450 for a 17inch laptop with more connectivity and DVDROM than the current HP version. I understand that chip shortages etc., are an issue, but to reduce the interface number for the same footprint is taking the p!ss.I can forego the DVDROM, but SD card reader, no ethernet port, no 2.5inch internal disk capability etc ?. Very poor value for money.
While I'm sure they are sitting on piles of DRAM, the chances are it isn't DRAM you would actually want; knowing the average OEM's terrible part selection mostly driven on what's cheapest today.
Hell, an awful lot of OEM BIOS don't enable XMP or equivalent by default, if not missing the option to change the setting entirely.
This is of course not a new phenomenon. Commodore were notorious for modifying their systems to accomodate whatever chips were cheap on any given day. Some variants being rather survivable than others.
Unfortunately in consumer-land, I would never expect average joe to be able to discern the difference buying good kit makes. If they could, certain outlets would be long since bankrupt.