ConsumerIT - For Europe's High Volume PC Retailers, Distributors & Builders

The global DRAM market is on the way to recovery in Q2 2012 according to DRAMeXchange-- as average selling prices (ASPs) rebound and vendors near fully loaded capacities, industry revenues grow by 12% Q-o-Q.

However overall revenues decline by 13.8% Y-o-Y to total $7.02 billion.

When it comes to vendors, Samsung and SK Hynix retain the lead, holding nearly 70% of the total market between them. Samsung revenues are up by nearly 7% Q-o-Q, reaching $2.78bn with a slight decline in market share (39.5%).

At 2nd place is SK Hynix with a "relatively stable" quarter-- Q2 2012 DRAM revenues reach $1.71bn with 14.2% Q-o-Q growth. DRAMeXchange predicts ASPs for various SK Hynix may decrease, leading to losses in profits.

Elpida (currently undergoing bankruptcy protection) comes 3rd with a 17% Q-o-Q increase in sales and market share growth reaching 0.5%. Elpida purchaser Micron follows with a 20% Q-o-Q increase in revenues and 12.5% market share.

DRAMeXchange says the Micron-Elpida merger will "help improve the DRAM ecosystem"-- but only because fewer vendors mean less price competition.

Go DRAMeXchange Q2 2012 DRAM Market Tracker

"War is not a good life, but it's still a life, "said Captain Kirk in Star Trek.

A new captain is on the bridge at Intel.  Kirk Skaugen is now captain of the Intel PC Client Group and his job is to lead the Enterprise... to re-invent the PC.

Over years the PC world built an empire...destroyed many other worlds of technology  (e.g., the electronic typewriter, fax machine, desktop calculator, cash register...and more).

While at its peak, the PC industry sought to consolidate its conquered lands by inventing platforms like internet. Like the mythical Trojan Horse, the internet, built by the IT industry and harnessed by the PC industry to expand its empire...succeeded in a life of its own. Once grown, the Internet supplanted the PC and its power.

Internet hit the PC with so much force that it knocked the PC from the very center of the IT universe to its current status as just another planet in orbit...or perhaps as far away as even a moon of that planet.

Logitech upgrades its earlier take on living room conferencing with the TV Cam HD-- a single device with built-in Skype hooking up your customers' HDTVs without the need for a PC.

It has all processing power required to not only run Skype, but also send wide-angle 720p footage over wifi or ethernet connections. As the company says, all it needs is an available HDMI port, an internet connection and a Skype account.

Unlike the previous TV Cam model the TV Cam HD does not need a Viera Connect HDTV-- any TV with HDMI-in is ideal.

"Powerful" image processors brighten images, while Carl Zeiss provides the camera optics. Four noise-cancelling microphones complete with beamforming and unidrectional technologies handle audio, and control comes through an easy-to-use remote.

Go Logitec TV Cam HD

CE spending in W. Europe will remain flat in 2012 according to Strategy Analytics, as the Eurozone crisis continues to crunch on consumers' spending power.

Customers will not stop spending on CE entirely, mind-- purchasing will continue, especially on devices eliminating the need for multiple dedicated devices. Just not enough to drive growth within the region.

On the global front hand analyst predicts WW 2012 CE revenues will grow by 5% and reach $790 billion in value, with mobile devices (tablets, smartphones and laptops) as chief drivers.

While global tablet growth remains "spectacular," Strategy Analytics reports laptops will still account for the majority of 2012 mobile PC sales. How come? Notebooks and ultrabooks still offer better productivity functions than tablets.

Ultrabooks should also see growth soon, accounting for 10% of 2012 laptop sales before making up to 70% of total laptop sales by 2016.

Go Global CE Industry Revenue to Grow 5% in 2012 (Strategy Analytics)