Articles / Posts
Originally Posted on LinkedIn - January 7, 2026
Are you hearing about increasing Memory chip pricing for Electronic Products? Will this continue, leading to High Inflation on Consumer Electronics?
In the 1980's, I negotiated / bought DRAM memory for IBM's original PC product line (No "old" jokes allowed). The "fear" then was that IBM's massive demand increase would inflate memory prices substantially and hurt the many other buyers of DRAM memory, thus driving up consumer prices.
Fast forward 40 years and it's still the same manufactured "fear"... now it's AI (data servers) being the culprit; draining capacity away for traditional buyers of Memory. Interestingly, AI data servers don't even USE the same type of memory that typical consumer electronics do - AI uses HBM memory which is much more powerful and expensive per Gigabyte! -
No consumer electronics company could afford to put HBM memory in their products!
So, what will happen as "supply is severely constrained" and prices go way up? Likely the same thing that's happened 6-7 times over the last 40 years -- the main "wafer design guys" license their older technology to independent wafer foundries, the packagers buy from the foundries and supply increases. When supply increases -- you know what happens!
You got to love the purity of Supply & Demand dynamics! There's still money to be made in the DDR4 memory technology (in fact, there's still money being made in DDR3 memory!). The original wafer designers, independent foundries and component packagers will drain every last bit of business possible from the full spectrum of memory technology.
--- TW
Originally posted on LinkedIn - January 1, 2026
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Well, I’m going to try this again!
After 5 years serving as the chief global operations executive with Verifone, I am again retiring from full-time employment. I wish my entire Global Operations team at Verifone continued success – stay energized on continuous innovation and improvement. Also, my sincere and continued encouragement to CEO Himanshu Patel and all my now-former colleagues. I know you’re well on the way to returning Verifone as the global payment solutions leader!
I am proud to say that the transformation we were able to achieve vastly enhanced Verifone’s global competitiveness while building a world-class Global Operations organization. Good show to all that have contributed to and supported this journey!
That said, I’m not done! I will be returning to lead my consulting business, Desert Sage Advisors. DSA focuses on advisory and consulting services to Private Equity, Venture Capital, Boards of Directors, Investment and Industry Research firms, and select Product Manufacturing companies. You can see more of what we offer at www.DesertSageAdvisors.com. I am always available to help whomever, wherever.
Business results have been satisfying – the colleagues met, always engaging – but the journey itself has been the best part! My best wishes on your journey. Again, mine is not done!
All the best for a Happy and Productive New Year! … Tom​