Dram Prices...

[John DeArmond]

>In article <18814 at agate.BERKELEY.EDU> c60a-4fl at widow.berkeley.edu (Antony A. Courtney) writes:
>
> 'Scuse me for saying so, but I think you are out of your mind.  
> 
> The Japanese Government was subsidizing Japanese companies to sell DRAMs way
> below cost.  As such, there was no possible way that US Companies could stay
> in competition with this.  The end result:  US Companies stopped making
> DRAMs.
>


You don't REALLY believe this do you?   I noticed in "EE weekly" a few
days ago that the world market price of 256k DRAM is about 3 bux a chip.
Do you s'pose the Japaneese government is subsidizing the whole damn
world?  Or do you maybe think that 3 bux represents the real value of
a DRAM chip manufactured with modern fab lines and techniques?

As to subsidies, one could also note that the US government subsidizes
almost ALL US industry.  Don't believe me?  Well consider for a 
moment Investment Tax Credits, Capital Gains taxes, interest deduction,
depriciation, state & local tax deduction, expense deductions including
labor costs.   Some of these are now gone but ALL were in effect when
the american semi industry started it's whining.  Personally, my 
response to this is to pledge never but never buy american-made 
memory again.  More of us should do the same.

john

-- 
John De Armond, WD4OQC                     | "I can't drive 85!"
Sales Technologies, Inc.    Atlanta, GA    | Sammy Hagar driving 
...!gatech!stiatl!john                     | thru Atlanta!