Word: dram
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...over roughly that share. Last week a group of seven American computer companies, including archrivals IBM and Digital Equipment, announced a move that might help the U.S. recoup some of its lost ground. The companies will create a joint venture that will manufacture and sell dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips using IBM technology...
...companies currently account for only 10% of the world's production of the most advanced DRAM chip, the one megabit, which has enough memory to contain the equivalent of 100 pages of double-spaced text. The new venture, called U.S. Memories, plans to manufacture the next generation: the four- megabit chip. Last week IBM disclosed that it is already producing the more powerful semiconductor for use in its own computers and other products. That may give IBM a lead of several months over its Japanese rivals, who have yet to gear up mass production of the four-megabit semiconductor...
...venture must also win congressional approval before it can proceed, since antitrust law generally prohibits joint manufacturing ventures between major competitors. But experts predict that Congress will make an exception for U.S. Memories. Besides the potential gain in chips, they contend, the lessons learned from the DRAM joint venture could show American industry how to become more competitive in other high-tech areas, including high-definition television...
What do computer memory chips, soybeans and pork bellies have in common? All are considered commodities, since their prices float freely, based on supply and demand. With that in mind, the Pacific Stock Exchange of San Francisco announced plans last week to create a futures market for DRAM (dynamic random- access memory) chips, the tiny silicon storage units found in products ranging from computers to toasters. Prices in the $6 billion DRAM market have seesawed sharply over the past few years, swinging from $3 to $30 a chip, depending on type and availability...
...chip futures market would allow manufacturers to buy or sell contracts for DRAM-chip delivery several months down the line, locking in a guaranteed price. Yet skeptics point out that microchips vary much more widely in quality and type than bushels of corn and that buyers who purchase their chips on the market rather than directly from suppliers will have far less influence over the manufacturing process...