ENS ECONOMIC BUREAUMUMBAI/HYDERABAD, SEPT 26: Fears of a possible shortage in computer components and peripherals sent PC prices up last week in the unorganised sector. Apprehensions of shortage were fuelled by the earthquake which hit Taiwan, the world's largest supplier of semiconductor chips, on Tuesday. Market observers said prices of motherboards and memory were on the rise since August and witnessed a significant jump following the earthquake. Chips went underground in some local markets, providing grey market operators opportunity for a killing. The official spokesman and director of Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT) Vinnie Mehta felt the rocketing prices were a result of an apprehension of impending shortages. "It is an indication of first-hand panic in the unorganised sector," he said. Some dealers said, prices of computer components went up by as much as 15 to 20 per cent within a week of the disaster."It is purely an artificially created increase. Logically, itshould have taken at least two to three days for stocks to deplete,'' secretary of Computer Dealers' Association M Veeraswamy said, adding, "Memory is like gold and silver and given how you play one can make a big killing."A 32 MB random access memory (RAM) block, which was quoting at Rs 1,600 on August 20, went up to Rs 2,650 on Monday and shot up further on Thursday to to Rs 3,150. Similarly, a 64 MB RAM is now quoting upwards of Rs 6,000 in the Delhi market compared to Rs 5,200 on Monday last and Rs 2,700 each on August 20 this year, market sources said.According to sources, Delhi's Nehru Place is the place for biggest margins in the grey market for components, while the cash-and-carry Lamington Road market in Mumbai operates on much lower margins. Though not to such an extent mother-board prices too have registered big gains since August of up to Rs 200 to Rs 350 during the period. For instance, a PPGA Celeron mother board which was priced at Rs 2,900 in August was being sold at Rs 3,100 on Mondaybut had shot up to Rs 3300 in the local market on Thursday.While the present increase has hit the assemblers' segment in a major way, market sources feel the branded players too will have to increase their prices in the coming weeks. While Zenith Computers reportedly was thinking of a hike even before the Taiwan quake, according to sources, it may now be forced to factor in the recent increases in memory prices.Others too will have to follow suit with hikes ranging between 40 per cent and 50 per cent on RAM alone since the prices have not been increased since July/August last, they said.Considering India is a price-sensitive market, Mehta feels the price increase could adversely affect the entry level systems market. "But overall the impact could be marginal," he said.
