Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!XEROX.COM!"chaz_heritage.WGC1RX"
From: "chaz_heritage.WGC1RX"@XEROX.COM
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: RAM chips
Message-ID: <880310-105218-1986@Xerox>
Date: 10 Mar 88 14:27:22 GMT
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 52

Two items relating to supplies of RAM chips (extracted from other DLs):

Item 1

>>>>>

What happened is the US government enacted legislation that artificially
depressed the US market for RAM chips. The Japanese found themselves in a
huge overproduction situation and stopped filling the pipelines. Now that
demand has risen again (though not to the level it was before the trade bill),
the pipelines are empty, and prices have skyrocketed. You guys in England
suffer just as badly as us guys in the US, it just takes longer. The chip
manufacturers, meanwhile, are making as much money and getting as much US
currency as they would have if the legislation had never gone into effect,
but they don't have to ship as much product to do so.

I have a 4 Meg board on my Amiga. The RAM alone is now worth about twice what
I paid for the whole board last year.
---
-- Peter da Silva  `-_-'  ...!hoptoad!academ!uhnix1!sugar!peter
-- Disclaimer: These U aren't mere opinions... these are *values*.

<<<<<

Item 2

>>>>>

1)	The Japanes
	price got down to pennies a chip.
2)	The Americans got priced out of business, so they shut down their chip
	manufacturing lines -

		Then screamed to their congressmen to "protect" them.

3)	The congressmen went to the president and begged "Stop the Japs"
4)	The US made it illegal for the Japanese to sell reasonably priced
	chips in the US.
5)	The Japanese quit shipping.
6)	The Americans didn't start building.

voila - no chips.

Incidentally, there are still some available from mail order houses for $4.50 to
$5.00 each for the 256/150 chips.

PS-  I have about 8MB of 256k-150ns chips at home.  If your's is a personal
problem, I will sell 8 of the 256K chips for $30.

Jim McLeod
8*223-5052

<<<<<