Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!rutgers!labrea!jade!ucbvax!COGSCI.BERKELEY.EDU!bryce
From: bryce@COGSCI.BERKELEY.EDU (Bryce Nesbitt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: 1 Megabit DRAMs
Message-ID: <8708290953.AA14970@cogsci.berkeley.edu>
Date: Sat, 29-Aug-87 05:53:19 EDT
Article-I.D.: cogsci.8708290953.AA14970
Posted: Sat Aug 29 05:53:19 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 30-Aug-87 07:49:14 EDT
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: Institute of Cognitive Studies, UC Berkeley
Lines: 55
Keywords: cost

In article <> dave@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie) writes:
>
> By the way, TI still makes DRAMs too...

I believe that you will find that TI makes (256K) DRAMS... in Japan.  They
then import them and stamp their little "Texas" picture on them.  As far as I
know Micron Technology of Boise Idaho is the only _volume_ US DRAM producer
that survives.	All the others have moved on to more profitable ventures,
leaving the Japanese to make DRAM in peace.  Or so it would seem...

TI has sued several Japanese DRAM producers for patent violation.  TI does
appear to be using the DRAM as a "process driver" again.  A "process
driver" means that new technology and processes are tried out on the RAMS
first, then moved into other products.

I have heard rumors that as part of the fallout of the Japan <=> US trade
games, AMD and others may start producing DRAM again.

The US has ruled that the Japanese manufactures where selling DRAM to the
United States at a loss.  Instead of thanking the Japanese for their
generosity :-) :-), a stiff import duty was added to incoming RAM.  The
duty varies from company to company and depends on how much our Government
and the US DRAM producers thought that that company was undercharging us
before.

What really blows me away is that while bare chips are hit by the import
duties, *completed assemblies* are not.  If I assemble my N megabyte Amiga
memory boards in the USA with US components, US PC boards and US labor it
will cost *more* for the _chips_ than if I contract out to use Japanese
components, Japanese PC boards and Japanese labor.  Assuming that all the
non-chip costs between the US and Japan balance out the win is to buy your
rams in Japan.
I presume that Commodore is *not* affected by the import duty because the
RAMs are imported while inserted into PC boards.

"Made in the USA with high quality Japanese parts" just won't cut it as an
advertising slogan any more.  :-) :-)


BTW: Micron makes excellent ram chips, and hires pond-scum lawyers to do
their marketing via the US Government.	Tha's my opinion.

"The USA has nearly 1 lawyer for every 365 people.  That's one a day per
person per year!  In Japan the ratio is something like 1 to 9000.  Obvious
export possibilities..."
	-Stan Krute

I told that to a pond-scum I mistakenly hired once.  Seems he got
offended.  Can you imagine that? :-)

-----
|\ /|  . Ack! (NAK, EOT, SOH)
{o O} . 
( " )	bryce@cogsci.berkeley.EDU -or- ucbvax!cogsci!bryce
  U	"Success leads to stagnation; stagnation leads to failure."