THINK YOU KNOW ALLIANCE MEMORY? A Q&A WITH DAVID BAGBY, PRESIDENT AND CEO
Q: What are Alliance Memory’s best-selling products right now?
You might be surprised to know how well we’re doing with DDR3 products, since historically we have always supported the legacy market and left these devices for the big suppliers. But with today’s shortage in the DRAM market and our great inventory position, we’re enjoying great success with our DDR3s for new designs. In fact, we’ve always been a leader in SDRAMs, but the present market shortage is giving us a great opportunity to be introduced to an entirely new customer base.
Q: Lead times for DRAMs are up to three months or more at the major suppliers. How does Alliance Memory compare?
We pride ourselves on the high inventory levels we maintain. As a chip supplier in a commodity memory market, you need a competitive price as well as inventory, and Alliance Memory has both. Not only do we have many months of buffer stock finished goods inventory, we also carry months if not years of wafer supply.
Q: Other suppliers have raised their prices significantly in recent weeks. What about Alliance Memory?
Price fluctuations are always going to happen in a commodity memory market. The big question is how you administer them. I’ve heard of some suppliers actually changing prices on an order before it ships, but that is certainly not Alliance Memory’s style. If we commit to an order we will support it. Our goal is to provide a stable supply with competitive pricing. When we do get wafer price increases, we give our customers plenty of notice of this change.
Q: During allocation, how does Alliance Memory’s strategy compare to the competition?
In times like this we see our competition making it their priority to support their big customers first. Our strategy is different. Our priority is to reward the customers that have supported us over the years, whether they’re big companies or not. If a customer has always bought from us then they will for sure be on the top of our support list. Fortunately we haven’t had to deal with an allocation at Alliance Memory given our stock situation.
NEW DIE VERSION FOR 2GB AND 4GB DDR3 AND DDR3L SDRAMS
To address the memory market’s shortage of high-speed CMOS DDR3 and low-voltage DDR3L SDRAMs, Alliance Memory has announced a new die revision (B die) for its 2Gb and 4Gb devices in the 96-ball FBGA package. With a new B die version, we now have two sources for our 2Gb and 4Gb parts’ silicon. This means our customers can be more confident than ever in our ability to deliver these devices despite shortages and price increases in the memory market. Learn more
NEW DDR3 AND DDR3L SDRAMS WITH 512MB X8 AND X16 DEVICES IN 78-BALL AND 96-BALL FBGA PACKAGES
Very few suppliers offer 512Mb DDR3 and DDR3L SDRAMs, so we are excited to add them to our broad lineup, which also includes hard-to-find 8Gb devices. Furthermore, our new DDR3 and DDR3L SDRAMs are offered in the same FBGA packages as devices with densities from 512Mb to 8Gb, allowing our customers to easily switch if they require less memory. Learn more
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