Chip makers: Apple manipulating flash memory prices

I wouldn't say greedy bastards, more maximising profits.

Lets face it, if you guys were going to buy a TV from a retailer last week you would have waited till Black friday would you not?

@Jordan

Weren't you told to stop trolling here like a week ago?

So, Apple is stocking up when memory is cheap.

How is that manipulating the market? It's good business sense.

"manipulating" is a weird word here. I'm sure that Apple has an effect on chip prices, but that's normal for most goods in most markets when when dealing with a major buyer.

They probably order however much memory they think they need, then reject all the chips which are defective.
If Chip Manufacturers cannot maintain high unit standards, and Apple only want high quality units, there will be a lot of low-quality surplus chips. Search any Chinese Electronic Surplus reseller and you'll see dozens of iPods, USB Flash Sticks and cheap media players being sold cheap because they have been rejected by Apple and Kingston for containing defective chips.

This could be the Chip Manufacturers complaining because Apple won't pay for defective chips.

So Apple optioned a supply slightly higher than they believe they will need. Usually this involves many contracts and these companies are paid as part of the option.

This is sound business practice and perfectly reasonable to me.

The virgins who provide the blood that Steve Jobs bathes in every day don't come cheap.

Ahh, but greed is GOOD!

Hmmm, I hear Samsung doesn't like Apple making so much money :-)