Stefan Mileschin

Samsung Electronics is trying to cool down prices for microSD memory cards by being careful who it supplies them to.

According to Digitimes, which cited its usual unnamed sources, Samsung has had enough of fluctuations in the prices of its microSD cards and is blaming the small size channel distributors.

It thinks that if it controls supply, it can stop prices for NAND flash chips and microSD cards from falling further.

Already, several small and medium-size distributors have been selling the microSD cards and flash memory wafers bought from upstream chip suppliers at very low prices indeed.

Samsung thinks that these low price offers have undermined the market, so it has decided to cut such suppliers out of the market. By dealing with bigger suppliers, it imagines it can keep the price higher.

It is not clear if this will solve the problem. Prices for NAND flash memory have been slipping since 2012 due to weak demand for flash cards and drives. SSD demand has been disappointing because it failed to push up chip prices.

Chinese distributors are in a panic because they are in danger of going bankrupt due to losses generated from the price falls.

http://news.techeye.net/chips/samsun...sd-card-prices