The Module Makers - Crisis but opportunity too

Elpida might have only held 13% of the DRAM market but their hold on some of the major module makers was considerably larger. Unsustainably so, as Elpida consistently came off on the worst side of the deal in recent years.

In the very short term there will be limited impact on these customers and their channel. But when the new Elpida (or their assets) return to the market, they will be unable to engage with the module makers in the same way or scale as before.

Elpida - What happens next?

 

Elpida filed for bankruptcy in Japan today. The phoney war is coming to a close & the real action is about to start.

The first thing to say is that Elpida's business model has been unsustainable ever since PC sales & their memory content began to stall. Once DRAM embarked on its current down cycle in Q2 2010, it has increasingly revealed just how Elpida have consistently overpaid for assets & undersold their product and technology.