Why DRAM Chipmakers Need Their Own OPEC (bloomberg.com) 132
SK Hynix supplies around 30% of DRAM. As much as manufacturers would like to tell you otherwise, these chips are all pretty similar, which is why they're considered a commodity. And with most commodities, like oil, prices shift with supply and demand. Profits, in turn, depend on balancing price and supply against the cost of the multi-billion dollar factories required to churn out these chips. It's no easy task. In fact, profitability is as much a function of game theory as capacity and cost management. If you cut supply while your competitor maintains output, prices may rise -- but most of that benefit goes to your rival and you miss out. If no one cuts supply even when demand is falling, then you're all likely to suffer lower prices, which could drag you into the red.
There's a collection of 14 nations well aware of how this works that came up with an ingenious solution: Sit down and negotiate supply together. Except they're peddling oil, not chips, and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries can't always see eye to eye.