DRam makers drink to Xbox and iPod

Memory chip makers have been buoyed by the huge success of games consoles and portable media players

A fierce battle for market share in the memory chip business is pushing some companies out of the market, but despite this DRam prices will continue to fall, according to recent research by Gartner. 

Increased DRam capacity in new game consoles, such as Microsoft's Xbox 360, and huge demand for flash memory, as used in Apple's iPod, is providing some respite for memory chip makers, sources say.

Gartner cited media reports suggesting that prices of DRam memory chips will fall 37 per cent next year, and could plummet a further 50 per cent in 2007.

Dr Wolfgang Ziebart, chief executive and president of major DRam maker Infineon Technologies, confirmed last week that a strong decline in chip prices has hit memory manufacturing this year. 

Infineon, the world's fourth largest DRam maker, is among the major companies announcing plans to reduce their exposure to the DRam market.

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest DRam maker, with a 30 per cent market share, plans to shift its focus from DRam by setting up a chip foundry to make non-memory chips to order for other companies.

DRam for personal computers currently makes up 80 per cent of the company's output, the Korea Herald reported.