It's easy to understand the sentiment behind the story, but it's simply so implausible it veers into 'impossible.'
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(Image credit: Tom's Hardware) Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Flipboard Share this article Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google This current memory shortage is intense. Spot prices for DDR5 DRAM ICs have quadrupled, and retail prices are often even higher. The desire for some new manufacturer to come along and 'save' the market from the worst excesses of the AI bubble is completely understandable. Still, certain reports in the tech media beggar belief, and one such widely disseminated story has prompted Taiwanese state media outlet CNA to go right to the supposed actor for an answer : "no."
Said actor is Asus, and the rumor was that the heavily diversified tech vendor would enter the memory manufacturing market in response to the ongoing shortage. It does make a certain kind of sense; Asus needs a lot of DRAM for its products, and producing its own might save a lot of money in the long term. The problem with this reasoning is that shortages don't last forever , and for Asus to set up its own memory production lines would take an absolute minimum of two years, and that's if the company had existing memory IP and decades of experience manufacturing DRAM, which it doesn't. The original report claimed that the Taiwanese tech vendor would start shipping RAM in the second half of next year, which is an impossible timeline.
Moreover, Asus doesn't really make components in that way. The company primarily sells its products to end users, based on chips purchased from other manufacturers. While Asus does make a lot of components—motherboards, graphics cards, (laptop) keyboards, and so on—these are quite different from manufacturing new microchips , which is what would be required to make a difference in the memory market.
Memory makers have no plans to increase RAM production despite crushing memory shortages
Manufacturers reportedly delaying launch of new memory modules due to massive price crunch
The RAM pricing crisis has only just started, memory maker Team Group warns
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/dram/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/dram/no-asus-isnt-going-into-memory-manufacturing-taiwanese-tech-giant-issues-statement-smashing-rumor#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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