Is the iPad driving down chip prices?
September 7, 2010: 7:40 AM ETSamsung warns of a memory glut from weakening PC sales as consumers turn to tablets
Photo: Apple Inc.
File this under unintended consequences.
On Tuesday, according to Reuters, the world's largest manufacturer of memory chips warned that DRAM prices may fall in the next two quarters due to weakening demand for notebook and desktop computers.
"If the PC market continues to slow, we may see a kind of oversupply in Q4 or Q1," Kwon Oh-hyun, head of Samsung's chip business, reportedly told a gathering at the company's annual mobile solutions forum in Taipei.
One factor hurting computer sales, according to this report, is the growing consumer interest in tablet computers, which use fewer DRAM components that traditional PCs. The report cites the popularity of Apple's (AAPL) iPad and the wave of copycat devices being rushed to market by, among others, Samsung, Toshiba, Acer, Lenovo, LG, Nokia (NOK) and Dell (DELL).
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