Koreans chew Apple out
Apple, it would appear, is shocking the NAND industry to its core, as some anonymous Koreans have gone on the record to claim the firm is single handedly depressing the memory market.
A Korea Times article sparked off the accusations, quoting two anonymous industry officials whinging that Apple makes large orders to memory makers like Samsung and Hynix, and then holds off actually buying them until the price drops.
Such is the Cupertino clout, according the quoted-yet-anonymous officials, that firms actually ramp up NAND production whenever Apple puts in a big offer for its iPhone and iPod product lines, only for Apple to decide it actually only needs a small stash.
This then floods the market with oversupply, sees prices fall and then allows the fruity toymaker to swoop in and buy the excess for massively discounted prices.
"Apple should certainly be blamed for deteriorating the supply and demand cycle in the global NAND flash market," one source is quoted as saying, whilst another rages that the strategy is "absurd," and "could hurt the industry's health."
Of course, this could all just be sour grapes, as there is no proof Apple has actually done anything legally rotten.
Indeed, anonymously taking chunks out of Apple for a practice which may or may not be occurring and which although dubious is not illegal, seems slightly unethical in itself.
So don't be too quick to judge, pip-le.
