Now that the deal appears finally to be done, the world's memory chip makers are eyeing the prospect of a giant new company to be created from the merger of Micron Technology Inc and Hynix Semiconductor Inc with a mixture of relief and trepidation.
Their relief stems from the possibility that the new company might use its 40% share of the market to temper supply and keep prices high, but they also fear that the superior economics to scale available to the new company will sharpen an already competitive market climate.
"If the deal does go all the way through, we expect the formidable pricing power of the resulting entity will keep DRAM prices high [spurring other Asian chipmakers to step up output]," Deutsche Securities analyst Fumiaki Sato wrote in a research note on Tuesday.
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