• MrPnut@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    I never understood why my dad was always so cheap until now.

    You “used” to pay this much for something and now it skyrocketed, so you can’t live with yourself paying that higher price when it has been much cheaper for so long. Maybe he thought prices were going to come down again.

    I don’t think the prices of RAM are ever going to come down. At least as long as people keep paying, which they do.

    • AliasAKA@lemmy.world
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      20 hours ago

      Well, people aren’t really paying. Theoretically, large AI investment groups are paying. I say theoretically because as far as I understand it, they’ve mostly promised to buy the output but I don’t think have actually made good on buying it. The manufactured scarcity is being realized as increased memory costs, but the contracts are still landing even though the biggest contract may not actually be filled in the future (AI bubble). It’s why memory makers are trying to get Apple and co to commit to today’s prices for the next 3 years, because if they do and the big contract falls through, they still get their insane profit margin baked in for a bit and then can stockpile / price fix / sell through to market.

      The big wrench here will be if Chinese memory fabs come online. If that big contract (AI) defaults, existing contracts are going to be very much worthless as folks would rather cancel them and fill orders at CXMT. So you may see a lot of consumer memory start filling from those fabs as they take market share while traditional players try to price fix. So the real question is, will cxmt try to capture market or play price fixing with the current cartel? My money is on market share.

      • mofongo@discuss.tchncs.de
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        20 hours ago

        My guess is price fixing, maybe slightly undercutting the current giants. Entering the market is only worth it because the prices are high.

        • AliasAKA@lemmy.world
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          18 hours ago

          Eh, I think they see more power and influence in gaining market share and being the provider of that technology, and then cornering the market. Prices are currently high, but they tend to do a better job of playing the long game.