‘Mr. Memory Chip’ Upbeat About Prices

Prices of memory chips, which have been on the rebound, may continue rising, though they probably won’t exceed $9 apiece, Samsung Electronics Co. Director Chin Daeje said.

Memory prices hit lows in 2001, falling below manufacturing costs, as the economy slid into recession, said Chin, who is known in South Korea as “Mr. Memory Chip.”

Prices have since risen to more than $3 for a 128-megabit dynamic random access memory chip from less than $1 last year.

“The price will go up,” Chin said in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “It’s already tripled since a couple of months ago. It will go up more.”

Prices are unlikely to triple again because the tendency is for chip prices to remain low as manufacturers develop cheaper ways to make semiconductors, he said.