Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!mordor!sri-spam!ames!lll-lcc!pyramid!octopus!avsd!govett
From: govett@avsd.UUCP (David Govett)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: RAM chips
Message-ID: <38@avsd.UUCP>
Date: 16 Mar 88 16:04:25 GMT
References: <880310-105218-1986@Xerox> <2444@ihuxy.ATT.COM>
Organization: Ampex Advanced Technology Division, Redwood City, CA
Lines: 29

> In article <880310-105218-1986@Xerox> "chaz_heritage.WGC1RX"@XEROX.COM writes:
> 
> Actually he forwarded some info about DRAM prices
> 
> >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.
> 
> I was under the impression that
> certain Japanese manufactors
> were "dumping" DRAMs at below cost,
> in an attemp to push the the
> border-line American companies over
> the edge.
> 
> 
The Japanese got the price down so low because every vertically integrated
Japanese company kept adding DRAM capacity until there was overcapacity,
and then sold chips below cost (i.e., dumped them) to gain market share.  
Because they are vertically integrated, they could absorb the losses better 
than, say, Micron Technology which depends on DRAMs.  

(Incidentally, the Japanese had those profits because previous dumping 
had wiped out the US consumer electronics industry.)

See how it works?