June 23, 2003
WINDOWS XP AND HYPERTHREADING P4 NOT PLAYING WELL TOGETHER
Microsoft announced last week that a combination of a Hyperthreading P4 and Windows XP will see a significant performance reduction after loading Service Pack 1. The problem is in the UnmapViewOfFile function. Microsoft has a fix for the problem but they suggest that if you are not currently experiencing any problems you should wait for the release of Service Pack 2 which will contain the fix. For more information on this problem you can visit the Microsoft Support website. The site will show you how to determine if you have the bug and what to do about it.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;815227
RAM PRICES INCREASING AND EXPECTED TO CONTINUE
In the wake of the announcement that the U.S. would place extremely high tariffs on Hynix for receiving illegal government subsidies, the price of RAM climbed a little. However, as I stated in that pervious newsletter, the price increase was unfounded. Those tariffs will not be in affect for at least another month. The price increase was simply reactionary and the prices soon moved back to where they were. Now we have another bogus price increase in the works. This time it will probably carry over until the tariffs are in place. What happened you ask? The U.S. Commerce Dept. announced last week that it is going to stand firm on this situation and the tariffs will be enacted. The final ruling will be made July 31st and the tariffs will go into affect August 7th.
This is what the whole thing looks like in simple form:
Last year Idaho based Micron and Germany based Infineon cried foul because they found out the South Korean Government was giving money to Hynix and Samsung illegally. These two companies account for the vast majority of South Koreas exports. With the difficult economic conditions the South Korean Government didn’t want either of these giants to fold causing more economic problems in their country.
The WTO (World Trade Organization), EU (European Union), and U.S. Commerce Department are all in agreement. These actions violate laws in each organization. Simply put, it gives Hynix and Samsung an unfair advantage in the trade arena.
A while back the Bush Administration tried to step in and play mediator to no avail. There was no gray area here. It was clearly a misappropriation of funds and Micron and Infineon were not going to tolerate it. The Bush Administration threw up their hands and that’s when the WTO, EU, and U.S. Commerce Dept. stepped in.
As I stated in the previous newsletter on this topic, Hynix will be dinged with an approximate 44% tariff while Samsung will be less than 1%. I don’t have any information as to why the big difference but I would assume that Hynix received the vast majority of the money.
All this news has caused the usual stir in the industry and prices have gone up. This time I believe they will continue to climb in anticipation of the tariffs going into affect. Hang on! This could be a wild ride.
S&K