Comments on: Major SSD Vendors Drop Prices In An Attempt To Remove Smaller Competitors From Contention

By: dravo1

dravo1 — Sun, 06 May 2012 21:33:00 +0000

It’s interesting that OCZ is cutting prices on all their Vertex 3s EXCEPT the IOPS units. Any insight into that reasoning?

By: Chris Ramseyer

Chris Ramseyer — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 01:16:00 +0000

In reply to Les@TheSSDReview. I'm just saying that it isn't just these 4 who are going to drop prices. ADATA will have a 120GB SF SSD for 99 Dollars next week.

By: Les@TheSSDReview

Les@TheSSDReview — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 08:29:00 +0000

Chris my friend….sometimes accurate speculation and not laying your cards on the table are very important as they enable the reader to see things for themselves. Take this for example:

https://www.thessdreview.com/latest-buzz/is-intel%E2%80%99s-522-series-%E2%80%98sandforce-driven%E2%80%99-ssd-next-to-be-released/

Do you remember your return on this as well and my first line states that it is all jjst speculation? I think I have them written down somewhere. Sit back, enjoy and lets get together for a chat at Computex my friend.

By: Mrfsys

Mrfsys — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:40:00 +0000

In reply to Mrfsys.

https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/30/korea-lcd-penalty-idUSL4E7LU02T20111030

Korea, Taiwan LCD makers fined for price-fixing

Oct 30 (Reuters) – South Korea’s antitrust regulator said on Sunday it had fined 10 Korean and Taiwanese thin-film transistor (TFT)-liquid crystal display (LCD) makers, including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd of South Korea and AU Optronics Corp of Taiwan, a total of 194 billion won ($176 million) for fixing product prices.

[end quote]

By: Mrfsys

Mrfsys — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:36:00 +0000

The speculation is that a price war will necessarily eat so deeply into the profit margins of their competitors, that marginal costs will begin to exceed marginal revenues for all the “also rans”. Over time such a trend will turn a profit center into a loss center, and the entire product line should be discontinued for that reason alone.

The gamble that the BIG GUYS are taking is that they did not collude in any manner to reduce retail prices “in unison”; otherwise, they could find themselves under investigation on suspicion of price fixing. Admittedly, this is also speculation (at this point in time), but such behavior is common in the IT world e.g. flat panel makers were recently fined for this very same thing.

Of course, the BIG GUYS (BIG GUY?) enjoy(s) the extra advantage of being able easily to pay any fines that might be imposed by the FTC for price fixing. Was Intel hurt very much after paying AMD $1.25 BILLION in 2009? It doesn’t appear so: they just wrote it off as another cost of doing business.

One test that should be applied in a timely manner is to monitor closely all SSD prices after the also-rans have been effectively eliminated from the SSD marketplace: of course, that is the classic “test of time”: so, time will tell!

MRFS