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Hardware

Tech Industry Warns Of Memory / LCD Shortage 81

Posted by timothy from the argument-for-small-screens dept.
yankeehack writes: "Oh Joy! The Standard published this article which explains predicted shortages of critical memory and LCD components (resulting in-of course-higher prices and delayed product launches). Component makers including Intel, Hyundai, NEC and Sharp Electronics are among those quoted for the article. Those afflicted by the shortage include Nintendo's Game Boy Advanced handheld console (Does anybody *still* use those?) which will be released 6 months late and mobile phone manufacturers, who are having trouble getting the hardware for all those nifty features they advertise."
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Tech Industry Warns Of Memory / LCD Shortage More

Tech Industry Warns Of Memory / LCD Shortage

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  • Unlike software, there is not an infinite supply of petroleum and silicon in this world.

  • .. I was posting on a computer on which I hadn't logged onto first, so the +1 was attached automatically
  • Re:Yeah but how come the price didn't go up in other parts of the country?

    Because starting this May, the midwest was forced to change over to reformulated gas. It *will* happen around the rest of the country if Algore gets his way. Some of the price is due to pipeline maintenance, but more than 25 cents was directly atributed to RFG.
    ___

  • If this were another commodity, let's say maybe wood or something, I might agree with the conspiracy idea, you know, the one where they're just jacking up prices to get greater profits. But building chip fabs is extrodinarily expensive. So expensive that if you build one bigger than you'll need in a little while, it can be death to your company. Hand-held markets have boomed lately, will cell phones and whatnot. They need computer parts - or, more accurately, parts that used to be reserved for computer-related fields. Nobody REALLY foresaw this, so now we've got a big, massive, enourmous demand for memory and LCDs, which the current fabs just simply can't meet. Considering the time it takes to build one manufacturing facility, I understand the 12-18 month time frame given. Most of the tech industry is on a next-day schedule. That is, they order the parts when they are absolutely sure them need them - few places have the warehouse space to stock big inventories any more. So, that combined with holiday shopping WILL create a big shortage. There's no way around it. As for the gas shortage, that's just greed. OPEC could easily produce more oil, but they choose not to. It's a different situation all together.

    Dave

  • Jesus christ, thank god. (Score:5)

    by Moderation abuser ( 184013 ) on Saturday June 24, 2000 @02:54PM (#978702)
    I thought for a moment that you said there would be a memory and LSD shortage. Had me worried there.

  • actually, the more I thought about it, the more I got to thinking that you are right. Cause it's the truth, MAN! I mean, you couldn't possibly be wrong, right?
  • The DRAM market seems to alternate between drought and glut. Intel got their start making DRAMs, with the i1103 DRAM [about.com], a 1024 bit chip which helped kill magnetic core memory.
  • Well, it hasn't hit yet. Pricewatch still sells 64MB of SDRAM for $49. Pretty damn good prices. Usually you see the prices drop before you read an article like this. I don't remember what the prices were like back in February (too much up and down). I don't think comparing today's $8.50 to February's $4.50 is a good example, considering that February was close to an all time low.

    Don't know about that.. I was paying 65/128MB in August of 1999... Thats a bit lower than 49/64MB

    A funny thing.. 2 weeks ago (on the 12th) I got a 256MB PC100 for 185.. The same place now has it at 205... Seems strange that all of a sudden these are going up in price.. Oh well.. I guess I'll do what I did when RAM hit 300/128MB last year.. Wait for the price to drop again.. Right ?

  • Exactly.. How many people would be pissed to find out that the reason they needed the new 30GB disk is because M$ Excell has a spread sheet in it.. Or the IE 4.x has the stupid "We made this program" video stuff...
  • I'm always amazed by such responses: get a grip on reality. I mean, who's reality do you want me to grip? There's quite a few of them.
  • Even though the GameBoy was released 10 years ago, is still the most sold game console to day. Does 100,000,000+ units sold tell you something?
  • We could always both be wrong.

    But no, reality isn't particularly 'diverse' much as some people would wish it so.
  • Yes, there is a Boise ID facility. My brother has worked there (not doing fabrication) for 3 1/2 years.

    --Josh

  • However my friend ordered DSL and two weeks later his phone got turned off. After two weeks of talking to the phone company every day he finally got his phone turned back on. It seems the "DSL technician" at the central office set up his home phone at that end to be a DSL line.

    Vermifax
  • Okay, good enough answer. :)

  • There are other issues here like for example forcing companies to produce many different version of gasoline for different markets.
    While this might not be the case here, enviroment-mania is running rampart in this country.
  • Acording to a research paper released by congress last week, 25 cents of the price increase here in the midwest was due to the requirement to use reformulated gasoline.
    ___
  • THe reverend spake
    Ok big shock. Extreme shortages around times when people are buying more, allowing for increased prices. Does this sound fishy to anyone else?
    Eh, have you ever bothered to take a basic math/physics/marketing course? Shortages occur when demand outstrips supply. Presuming a flat supply (it's actually growing -- just slower than demand, right now), if demand drops you pretty much CAN'T have a (new) shortage. When demand climbs on an existing shortage, what few reserves there are (no matter WHAT their price) will be snapped up.

    All I can say is that I'm happy that I bought my new processor board LAST month.
    --

  • If there had been a significant (sudden) rise in demand I would agree. However in Feb. we were at the lowest prices ever for ram. That would seemingly indicate a large supply. Did I miss a rash of computer sales? I don't think so. I really think this is a manufactured shortage.

    I am also happy I beefed up my ram last month :^)

  • Pricewatch still sells 64MB of SDRAM for $49. Pretty damn good prices. Usually you see the prices drop before you read an article like this. I don't remember what the prices were like back in February (too much up and down). I don't think comparing today's $8.50 to February's $4.50 is a good example, considering that February was close to an all time low.

    I bought 256 megs of PC133 SDRAM toward the end of March; the price back then was about $210 (from a reputable vendor, not a Pricewatch lowballer). I just checked the same vendor's price for the same memory; they're now up to $270. Prices are up, but not by an obscene margin (not like the way gas prices here skyrocketed a month or so ago...on a completely off-topic tangent, why isn't it news when the screws are put to Las Vegas motorists, but it's on the front page when the exact same thing happens in the Midwest?).

    In any case, it's still cheaper on a per-megabyte basis than the $80 I paid to add 512K to my Apple IIe back in '90 or '91...:-)

    _/_
    / v \
    (IIGS( Scott Alfter (remove Voyager's hull # to send mail)
    \_^_/

  • Re:"I read that also. However the price of gasoline today at the BP by my house is 1.99. 1 year ago it was 1.39. What's the deal?"

    Because whiney treehugers like AlGore care about trees more than people.
    ___

  • Shortage is *now*, never mind later predicted. (Score:3)

    by strix ( 4888 ) on Saturday June 24, 2000 @03:09PM (#978719)
    I design fast (OC48) fibre linecards. The biggest thing that holds us up is part acquisition, and it isn't always in ICs. When it's not RAMs or FIFOs (notably IDT parts), it's passives like low ESR tantalum capacitors.

    Our assembly house recently bought a reel of 330 uF tantalum caps for US$15/piece. With an MOQ of 1000, that cost US$15,000, which is more than the average new car in this country! (.nz) That's one reel of capacitors! The guy had about an hour to make the decision to buy before someone else bought it instead.

    This problem is not new. It is just getting worse. We have been told tantalums will be impossible to get (for prototyping groups like ourselves) in the next few months.

    For some reason, we haven't had difficulty getting flash ROMs like other people have. I put that down to the package type (PLCC) we use.

  • It very well could be as you say. When I make sweeping comments as I did earlier, I tend to err on the side of, "Awww, everybody's nice."

    Naivety is fun! In all seriousness, I am aware of and do not support unethical business practice. This appears to be capitalism at its best. If only I was a chip manufacturer... If only I have purchased Rambus at 40, and sold at 400... (or OneVoice ($2 - $22, 3 months), or Xybernaut, same time frame...)
  • Thats a cart load of cow dung and you know it. The cleaner burning stuff actually only adds an extra 5 or 6 cents onto the final price
  • Treehuggers? That is hardly about hugging trees or anything like that, but trying to save our own collective ass! If I were you, I'd be a little bit more concerned about environmental issues than that! Why don't you buy cars that consume less or reduce car usage altogether? Or move closer to work / school / whatever? Considering environmental damage, maybe 10 bucks per gallon would be closer to reality... By the way, eventually we're going to run out of gas anyways, and expect gas to cost that $10 after some 15 years anyways, without tax! Sorry for being incoherant, it's 2:30 AM :)
  • Ah, we have a relativist.

    Yep, there's no ultimate truth. You get to believe in a flat earth, if it meshes well with your belief system. Kewl!

    I'm afraid you're wrong, sadly. There are quite a few delusions, and at least at this point, none of us know everything. So we all carry around our approximations of reality.

    Please don't drag out some hokum new age drivel in defense, please.

  • There also might be a shortage of people who know how to install DSL.
  • No, it is *overpriced* over there. Just like about everything else.
  • That's quite a shock to me. Last I saw, 64MB was gonna cost me about $70. I was thinking maybe they mean the subchips that go on each DIMM, but aren't there 16 of those on each? Maybe they're referring to PC133.

    Well, anyway, I am a bit curious as to whether or not this is completely market-driven. I know that this won't explain all the shortages, but I remember that RAM became fairly pricey after the Taiwan earthquake. Is it possible we're still feeling after-effects of that? (I recall reading somewhere that Taiwan makes 70% of the world's DRAM, correct me if I'm wrong.)

    Any thoughts?
  • Running out of gas? You know, the way free enterprise works, somebody somewhere will come up with new way of powering our vehicles.
    Business is not your enemy. Scare mongers like Al Gore are.
  • It was bound to happen. Somebody managed, after all, to blame Bill even for this.

  • yankeehack's wondering if people still use Game Boys? Hasn't heard of Pokemon?

    That is a Game Boy game, you know...


    ---
    Zardoz has spoken!

  • For one sided DIMM, that's 8 (or 9 for ECC) chips, or for doubled sided, 16 (or 18). So that comes out to $68 for a 64meg DIMM (SS) and $136 for a 128meg DIMM (DS), more for ECC. And that's just the cost of buying the chips for DIMMs. There are of course are few more parts, materials, and assumbly production costs, as well as distribution and related sales costs. The chips will be the biggest part, but don't expect DIMMs to be as low as $68 or $136 of the chip prices are $8.50.

    What I heard was the most of Taiwan manufacturing was back online in about 2-3 weeks. That would have had an effect lasting longer, but I doubt if it is the significant effect any more, unless there was some unrepairable damage in manufacturing there.

  • This whole thing started because you said "get a grip on reality", because someone was an eco-freak, and you disagreed. This sounds like a difference of OPINION and interpretation (global warming, positive feedback, etc), not a disagreement about basic axioms of the universe.

    And therefore, my comment that your "get a grip on reality" was misplaced. You two were NOT disagreeing on reality; you were disagreeing on something which is not an axiom.

    But relatively few things are axioms.

    My frustration lies in that absolutist arguments always seem to degenerate to "get a grip, get a job, live in the real world for a while."

    Hehe, maybe I should get back to work, or maybe go to bed, yeah!
  • It sold so well because it was cheap. Good enough and cheap. On a larger scale, nothing beats that.

  • Considering environmental damage, maybe 10 bucks per gallon would be closer to reality...

    Hardly.

    • Automakers have substantially reduced CO and NOx emissions over the past several years. The net effect is a reduction in emissions from all cars. In fact, Florida is phasing out emissions testing partly because of these general gains.
    • Global warming? 25 years ago there was much wailing about global cooling. Greenhouse effect? Mt. Pinitubo in the Philippines spewed much more greenhouse gasses in one event than the industrial revolution has ever done.

    eventually we're going to run out of gas anyways, and expect gas to cost that $10 after some 15 years anyways, without tax!

    Doubtful, considering the historical track record of predicting gas reserves. Here's a hint: if any accepted predictions from the first half of this century came true, we would have no oil now.

    There is enough oil for more than 15 years of consumption. Much more.

  • We're trying to do a small run of set top boxes and can't find parts! Even digikey is sold out of some basics as the big guys have had to pick people like them clean. I hear we had problems even finding basic SMT resistors...

    That's why its good to be a programmer. It just gives me more time to work while the hardware guys scramble for parts.

  • Oooo, I know something!!! I was doing research on urban sprawl last summer and read an article which cited a study (admittedly this was anti-sprawl) calculated what the tax on gasoline should be to take into account all the costs that are involved (including pollution, road wear, construction of subsidized interstates, and fighting the Gulf War). The tax is currently what, a quarter or two? It should be $6.50.

  • Tech Firms May Have to Fish for Memory Chips

    Legal Notice

    According to our legal staff, The Standard is infringing on our patent #31415926, A Method for Producing Loud Groans and Retching Noises, with this lame pun. We are therefore warning The Standard to immediately cease and desist from this infringement or face legal action.

    ------

  • Game boy Advanced... (Score:4)

    by maxume ( 22995 ) on Saturday June 24, 2000 @12:20PM (#978737)
    Has not yet been released, so it wouldn't really be that surprising for someone to be useing one because of it's old age, would it?
  • There has, for a while been a generic shortage of components resulting in long delays of DSL and other network equipment
  • I'm supposed to be R&D'ing software for PalmPilots right about now, but am still waiting for mine (And have been for quite a while).

    I suppose back-order is a good thingm, since I have a Monday deadline on another project anyway...

    I wonder what the lag-time between chip manufacturers implementing new, more dense technology and top-tier manufacturers buying that technology is?

  • Hmmmm.... (Score:3)

    by TheReverand ( 95620 ) on Saturday June 24, 2000 @12:25PM (#978740) Homepage
    AICE expects the situation to continue for 12 to 18 months, with peaks during the back-to-school and Christmas seasons.

    Ok big shock. Extreme shortages around times when people are buying more, allowing for increased prices.

    Does this sound fishy to anyone else? It sounds to me like the hardware industry is taking advantage of the record number of computers and other devices that will be sold this year.

    Maybe I'm just being paranoid but this isn't the only "shortage" we're having. Gotten gas lately?

    People may be getting a little more greedy....

  • > Nintendo's Game Boy Advanced handheld console
    >(Does anybody *still* use those?) which will be

    Don't be such a snob. Let's not forget that one of the most succesful RPG adventures in recent time appeared exclusively on the Game Boy. You might have heard of it; it's an obscure little game by the name of "Pokémon". The fact that Nintendo is still here today, in spite of overwhelming competition from Sony (and to a lesser degree, Sega) can be attributed mostly to the success of the Game Boy. That's not bad for a piece of twenty-year old technology. I only wish PC programmers knew how to extend the lifespans of their platforms like that.

  • Re:Hmmmm.... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Yeah, it's all a consipracy.

    Everyone is out to get you. It's 'The Man' back at it again.

    Yep, it is.

    Indeed.

    Uh-huh.
  • Naw. Whiney tree huggers think they care more.

    Conveniently, their belief allows them to pull all kinds of gratifying power moves.

    If I thought saving the world involved stealing your car and bopping your girl, wouldn't life be grand. Sadly, I have a better grip on reality than that. Oh well.
  • Re:Don't fuck with us. We're not stupid.

    Windows
    ___

  • Anyone here who remembers the original DRAM drought of the mid-80's?

    I can't recall if the fact that virtually all US companies stopped making DRAMs was the cause of the shortage or the direct result.

    Even today, only Micron still makes DRAM chips stateside. (Did they ever open that Idaho facility?)
  • "(Does anybody *still* use those?)"

    Of course! How else am I going to play Pokémon?

  • Yes, I remember back when I felt good that I'd bought all those used DRAM chips right before the shortage hit. I think I paid like $6 or so for 256Kx1 bit chips. Which was really, really cheap at the time. People were lucky to be able to afford 640K of RAM.

    My first 16 Megs of DRAM (4x4MB SIMMs) cost over $600.

  • You might find these links interesting and enlightening:

    Chesapeake and O.RY. Co. v. Kuhn [findlaw.com]

    Cadwalader v. Wanamaker [findlaw.com]

    An excerpt from the former:
    In cases like this, where damages are claimed under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (45 USCA 51-59), defense of the assumption of the risk is permissible and where the undisputed evidence clearly shows such assumption the trial judge should direct a verdict for the defendant. Moreover, in proceedings under that act, wherever brought, the rights and obligations of the parties depend upon it [284 U.S. 44, 47] and applicable principles of common law as interpreted and applied in the federal courts. Seaboard Air Line Ry. v. Horton, 233 U.S. 492, 508 , 34 S. Ct. 625, L. R. A. 1915C, 1, Ann. Cas. 1915B, 475; Chesapeake & Ohio R. R. v. De Atley, 241 U.S. 310 , 36 S. Ct. 564; Boldt v. Pennsylvania R. R., 245 U.S. 441, 445 , 38 S. Ct. 139; New Orleans & N. E. R. R. v. Harris, 247 U.S. 367, 371 , 38 S. Ct. 535; Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Ry. v. Coogan, 271 U.S. 472, 474 , 46 S. Ct. 564

  • Every time the price of a gallon of gas or a meg of RAM jumps 25 cents, you get the usual conspiracy theorists, claiming, "It's those big evil businesses, conspiring together to start ripping you off." I don't believe it.

    Well, to be accurate, I don't believe all of it. I believe that those businesses are evil, of course, and they're obviously big. I just don't believe that having had the chance to rip us off before, they'd have neglected to start until now. I can just picture the unlucky lackey to point that out to his (evil) boss: "What, you mean we could have been selling this stuff for twice as much, and you didn't tell me sooner? Go raise our prices, then clean out your desk!"

  • Re:Gee, who's surprised? (Score:3)

    by DHartung ( 13689 ) on Saturday June 24, 2000 @05:41PM (#978751) Homepage
    Sources of the DRAM drought:

    First, Japanese companies stepped up production and captured market share in the US.

    Second, Japan prevented American companies from marketing there (among many other protectionist measures).

    Third, the US, concerned about the imbalance of trade, passed an anti-dumping law. Companies importing products like DRAM at prices far below the existing US market could have their products blocked or tariffed punitively.

    Fourth, crushed by increasingly tight margins in the RAM market, American companies switched to mainly producing processors.

    Thus, despite the law, intended to help American companies compete in the RAM market, there were few American companies selling RAM anymore; and RAM coming in from Japan, then the main source, was either turned away or heavily taxed. The end result was that the only RAM available was expensive.
    ----

  • I'm supposed to be R&D'ing software for PalmPilots right about now, but am still waiting for mine (And have been for quite a while).

    I wanted to email you regarding Palm software but unfortunately you don't have an email address listed in your /. profile. Perhaps you could email me?

  • Maybe if M$ products weren't so bloated, people wouldn't need as much ram. This ram shortage would therefore not have happened (although there might still be an lcd shortage.) Course in the long run M$ bloatware has lowered the price of ram and made it possible for us to built computers with real operating systems sporting TONS of ram.

    Ever notice that the average users uses his PC to do spread sheets, word processing, and surfing the net. In the mid 90's the average pc buyer used his (or her) pc to do the same thing. Could they still use their 486 to do what they do now on their pentium III (average pc users don't buy AMD?) Ok the programs now have many more bells and whistles but how many people actually use them on a regular basis?

    If it weren't for games and Bill gates sending out ever more bloated bloatware (which people buy even though they don't need it in order to "keep up with the latest technology") PC sales would probably drop. Just some food for thought.

    Ok, I will stop ranting for now.
  • There might be, but really....most of the config can be done centrally (That's my job right now), and to install the copper-loop doesn't require a University degree :)
  • Hey you know they sell resistors at a nearby store ... Radio Schack. I think they have an 800# too. Give them a try 8-)
  • You're right. Both you and I are right.

  • That's just because they're paying a lot more in taxes on it. In Europe, the actual cost of the fuel is not that much different than it is here. It's all the added taxes that make it cost so much.

  • That is garbage.

    The large metro areas in the US have been required to use oxygenated gasoline for years. This is commonly done in two ways: adding ethanol or MTBE(I think that's the acronym for the chemical). The petrol companies prefer the latter because it's petroleum based, makes them more money, and they don't have to deal with the ethanol producers. However, it has been shown that MTBE finds it's way very quickly to ground water (you know..the stuff you drink).

    Because of this the EPA has required some areas to use only ethanol. While this makes farm states happy because it creates more demand for corn, it pissed off the oil companies and some environmentalists who claim that while it does reduce some components of smog, it productes more CO2.

    It also has been shown that there isn't a shortage of gasoline in the midwest. The oil companies are in a snit and are jacking up the prices to generate consumer backlash against the ethanol requirement so they can go back to the more profitable but more harmful MTBE. It is interesting that while the oil companies in the Chicago and Milwalkee markets are blaming ethanol, in several areas gasoline with ethanol has been cheaper than regular gasoline for decades. Saying that this raises costs is ridiculous. They have been producing it for years! They also generate several different grades of fuel depending on the time of the year (the gas you buy in the summer is different than what you get in the winter), so saying that switching costs them more is total bullshit.

    Like the Microsoft case, some conservatives have taken a technical issue and have politicized it. I wish they would stick to realm of politics. Making non-political issues political just because one doesn't like the current administration is stupid. I hate Clinton & Gore as much as anyone, but the reason for the price increase is due to oil company temper tantrums.

  • The other issue is that RAM prices have stabilized after huge drops from late 95 to early 99 that far exceeded the pace of Moore's law. RAM manufacturers were losing their shirts and not willing to double down investing in huge new factories back then that would be reducing the shortage now.

    The pendulum shortages/crashes of commodity devices like RAM are one reason why Intel got out of the business in the late 1970s.

    --LP

    Disclaimer: I've tracked RAM prices on pricewatch for several years but my analysis is more conjecture based on reading trade press than first-hand knowledge.
  • I don't think you are being paranoid. Manufacturers base their estimates on history (obvious, I know). In order for these same manuf. to make money, the have to be able to meet demand. If I order a computer with 1GB of RAM, I want 1GB of RAM, not 128MB and some money back.

    Boy, I'd really like my desktop to have 1GB of RAM. I'd also like computers to be made out of milk chocolate so they can be recycled easily. There might be some thermal tolerance issues there, but with low voltage devices, that shouldn't be a problem...

    In order to meet a demand, that demand must be anticipated. It is only good business practice that chip manufs. are expecting this surge around September.

    I was discussing with some people "bacterial evolution"-- a subject which admittedly I have limited exposure to. I brought up an argument of "Better Bacteria Through Natural Selection." and was met with, "That's just pharmeceuticals trying to sell you something."

    It stands to reason (to me, anyway) that disinfectants, if not applied properly, cannot guarantee destruction of 100% of bacteria and viral strains. My mother is a nurse, and has seen first hand this evolution. A brand of staph infection (MRSA? I believe) that exists only in hospitals, which became a breeding ground for the naturally selected vermin. (people have called me that, too.)

    Talk about off-topic! I'll try to bring this around...

    When a manufacturer asserts a demand which said manuf. may profit from, granted the goal of any manuf. is to make money, but the manuf. industry is also about service, and satisfying their market, without which the industry would not survive. If you don't want manufacturers to make money, don't buy anything.

    Talk to you later, -J.D.
  • However the market has been growing rapidly for the last few years. There is a huge business in analysis of trends and predicting sales. I severely doubt that they have all woken up this week and said, "Gee what do you know, a whole bunch of people are buying computers all of a sudden, Wow didn't see that one coming."

    A year ago they were fine. Excepting the earthquakes everything has been dandy. There have not been any significant changes to the market place besides steady growth. They had no problems meeting supply a month ago, therefore I would not be surprised if this is just a little exaggerated.

  • Try and raise prices and I will refuse to buy your products. I will then watch your stock plummet and you scramble to drop prices so recapture market share.

    Don't fuck with us. We're not stupid.

  • Re:Hmmmm.... (Score:4)

    by sigwinch ( 115375 ) on Saturday June 24, 2000 @01:48PM (#978763) Homepage
    Did I miss a rash of computer sales?

    Yeah, you did. Computers are in *everything* these days. Cell phones, PDAs, pagers, games, notebooks, PCs, etc. have all been selling like hotcakes. Demand for consumer electronics has grown across the board, and component suppliers haven't kept up. Capacitors, RAM, and CPUs have particularly constrained supplies.

    Try searching Digi-Key [digikey.com] for a popular capacitor, like the Panasonic ECU-V1H104KBW, a 0.1 microfarad ceramic chip cap. "Quantity Available: 0 - Check Lead Time". Or try to find surface-mount tantalum capacitors in stock. I just tried >50 popular values, and *nothing* was in stock. The handheld electronics people have sucked them all up (cell phone designers in particular like tantalum caps). This isn't a new phenomenon -- I haven't bothered designing a tantalum cap into a board for at least six months, and the situation is only getting worse.

    A few months ago, I had to redesign because a Fairchild *transistor* was unavailable. A few square mm of cheap silicon, and even it had constrained supply. <grumble> I'm starting to get bitter about having to redesign circuits because we can't get a particular part. If I find that a cheap resistor is unavailable, I'm gonna cry. ;-)

    And just a few days ago, a colleague told me that Atmel AVR processors will be unavailable until the end of the year. It seems one got designed into the PS2. I feel sorry for the poor bastards who bet their products on that device.

  • Well LCD's maybe, (Score:3)

    by Rader ( 40041 ) on Saturday June 24, 2000 @12:41PM (#978764) Homepage
    Well, it hasn't hit yet.
    Pricewatch still sells 64MB of SDRAM for $49. Pretty damn good prices. Usually you see the prices drop before you read an article like this. I don't remember what the prices were like back in February (too much up and down). I don't think comparing today's $8.50 to February's $4.50 is a good example, considering that February was close to an all time low.

    I still can't believe this article came out before the prices dropped, so if you do believe the article, go buy your Dimms up today. Or wait through the storm, like I had to late last year ($2.50 + per MB?? ouch)

    Oh no?! Does this mean that's Intel dream of RDRAM being the Next Big Thing(tm) will be even MORE expensive? Ha! Bastard hype.

    Now LCD displays, that should be interesting. I wonder if these new, sharp TFT displays are eating up resources?

    Rader

  • > Nintendo's Game Boy Advanced handheld console
    >(Does anybody *still* use those?)

    Where did this come from? The Gameboy family is the #1 gaming system still in popular use today the world over.

    Hell, I know sorority girls who wouldn't know a Dreamcast from a NES that have and still play with Gameboys.

    Not to mention that Gameboy Advanced still hasn't been released yet.
  • I remember buying my first gameboy way back when. It was before they were released to the entire market. They used to have Nintendo stores in the malls and the one in Bremerton (not sure, its been a while) would always release the stuff a little early. Fond memories, tetris and super mario land were my first two games.
    A little tidbit on the Gameboy advance, in an interview somewhere I heard Nintendo say that it could have released the system already however the gameboy platform is still doing so well they don't want to eat into those profits yet. Therefor they delayed the gameboy advance for year. I wonder if the screens will cause a further delay?

  • Quotes (Score:3)

    by __aaedhn419 ( 14610 ) on Saturday June 24, 2000 @02:19PM (#978767)
    "It is majorly ironic that the Game Boy is the most successful video game unit ever yet it receives the least press of all the systems. With a ten-year life span and sales exceeding 80 million units worldwide, you'd think the Game Boy would have more to show in terms of coverage. The latest retail sales data indicates that handheld gaming represents 19 percent of all U.S. video game purchases, the overwhelming bulk of which can be directly traced back to the Game Boy. So we can only wonder why such a powerfully selling system garners significantly less attention than its larger console cousins get." --http://www.gbstation.com/editorials/093099.html

    "Does anybody still use those?" -- Slashdot reader yankeehack

  • The gas shortage is more importantly rooted in SUV demand and state, local, federal, federal and federal taxes.

  • Yeah but how come the price didn't go up in other parts of the country?
  • The poster was referring to game boys in general, not the newest installment.

    It's amazing. Low-tech, cheap, not backlit, small - bestselling console in the world.

  • Exaggeration is very likely. Unlike the supreme court, Slashdot usually provides just one reference or one point of view.

    Or perhaps the problem is the enormous number of submissions. "News" for nerds might not involve a balanced selection.

    If only we could look at the story queue. :(

  • Oh yeah.. thats what I get for NOT having my 32OZ of Elixor or the Gods (aka. COLA !) before posting...
  • yeah! how dare those pesky liberals try to pass on the community (hidden? I forget the economic term for this sort of thing) costs to the companies that benefit from it.

    We need a corporate pollution tax. This is standard economics. What happens is that companies have to balance costs in order to provide competive products. So balance cost of labour against cost of more efficient manufacturing equipment. Most of these goods are priced by the market, just like the goods the company produces, so everyone wins. The environment is not, so it falls to the government to set the price of pollution.

    If the government doesn't set a high enough price for pollution, the correct thing for companies to do is to switch to dirtier, and cheaper production processes.

    So with that in mind, environment mania is nothing more than an attempt to correctly price an invaluable resource.

    Johan
  • ...and on. how stupid? Pokemon isn't a more advanced model - it's a game. Game Boy is the biggest selling cosole of all time. It's 15 years old. Game boy advanced is the newest system update. Facts mean prizes gentlemen...
  • In order to meet a demand, that demand must be anticipated. It is only good business practice that chip manufs. are expecting this surge around September.

    That I understand, a little price-gouging is to be expected, however to claim that there is a shortage and that prices will significantly rise now sounds more like an exaggeration(sp) to take advantage of a booming market.

  • we are not stupid but 90% of the people in the world are when it comes to computers

    Sanchi
  • I believe that the Game Boy is the most widely-owned and used video game format in the world, if memory serves me correctly.
  • yet. so noone has had a chance to use them.

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