Memory Prices Begin To Stabilize

Analysts and vendors say pricing in the space is becoming less volatile, just as some manufacturers ramp up performance in their product lines.

"Pricing has been relatively stable," said Steve Rodriguez, director of strategic marketing for memory maker Kingston Technology, Fountain Valley, Calif. His remarks came on the heels of a report from Merrill Lynch stating it has seen indications of memory pricing stability.

In addition, while a significant price delta initially existed between DDR and SDRAM memory, both used in Pentium 4 systems, that gap is now closing, Rodriguez said.

"Actually, we're pretty much at parity pricing for DDR and SDRAM," he said. "It's been relatively stable."

Last week, Kingston shipped new high-capacity 1-Gbyte and 2-Gbyte DDR PC2100 modules in partnership with motherboard makers SuperMicro and Tyan. The new memory, targeted at server platforms, has the potential to boost white-box makers in the server space, according to Rodriguez.

"We actually see some leading systems builders really focused on the server market," he said. "The real buzzword to them today is 'bare-bones systems.' "

White-box servers have reached more than buzzword status, according to a recent CRN survey. As of March, 45 percent of solution providers surveyed found white-box servers to be their best-sellers,an all-time high. And it comes as white-box builders offer more high-performance systems than ever.

"In a nutshell, [customers are getting more horsepower for the same dollars they spent on an older server," said Jeff Lincoln, sales manager for Prime Systems, a Houston-based solution provider and maker of white-box servers.

Lincoln said memory pricing stability has come into play since many of his clients "will delay purchasing decisions if [there's a drastic increase."