Capacitor pricing turns volatile
By Staff -- Purchasing, 8/24/2000 2:00:00 AM
Electronics buyers searching the open market for flash memory, tantalum and ceramic capacitors and dram are finding the parts, but the pricing is volatile with tags changing daily or weekly.
Independent distributors say tantalum and ceramic capacitors and flash memory are still the most sought-after parts, but there is growing demand for dram. Spot market prices reflect the high demand. Example: In July, 32-megabit (Mb) flash devices used by cell phone manufacturers and networking equipment manufacturers were selling for about $200, says Frank Cavallero, vice president of sales at necx.com in Beverly, Mass. However, the price dropped to about $172 about a week later. The list price for the part by the manufacturer is about $20.
Prices also are high for smaller flash densities. The 16Mb flash was selling for about $50, but had been as high as $70 earlier in the summer. The list price for that part is about $10. The 8Mb part is going for $15-$16; the 4 Meg, $10 and the 1 Meg, $6, says Cavallero.
Tantalum capacitors continue to be in high demand although lower effective series resistance (ESR) parts are driving the market. For instance, a tantalum capacitor in an A case size cost about 65¢-70¢in July. The low ESR version of the part was in the $2.90-$3.10 range. The same is true with C, D and E case sizes: There is a price premium for low ESR tantalum capacitors.
Shortages of tantalum capacitors, which have been on allocation for months, have been so severe that some equipment manufacturers have switched to ceramic capacitors. However, capacity for ceramics have not been able to keep up with demand and there are ceramic shortages as well.
Cavallero says, generally, shortages of capacitors and flash will continue at least through the rest of the year, but there is some good news. "We are seeing some improvements in leadtimes both in flash and capacitors with additional capacity coming online," he says.
With semiconductors, buyers should plan for a tighter supply of dram, both 64Mb and 128Mb devices. Demand appears to be growing and pricing is expected to increase through the rest of the year. This is because the bulk of PCs are shipped in the fourth quarter, and manufacturers are building systems now for the Christmas selling season.
"We have seen increases in prices for 128Mb PC and 64Mb devices," says Cavallero. He says PC 100 128Mb devices have gone up 2% and PC 133 parts in the same density increased about 8%.
He says a 128Mb PC 100 was selling for $18.30 and the PC 133 128Mb device was $19.20. The 64Mb PC 133 costs $9.15 and the PC 100 is selling for about the same.
Sixty-four-megabit devices are still the volume drivers in terms of units, but demand is rising for 128Mb devices.
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