Big supply of chips makes for great buys

SAN FRANCISCO -- An oversupply of one kind of computer memory is creating great deals on digital camera cards, music players and other portable electronics.

Flash memory chips are so plentiful, they're being sold at steep losses. One common model sold Wednesday for $3.37 wholesale, though it can cost between $4 and $4.50 to make, says market tracker DRAMeXchange and equity firm Lehman Bros.

Some wholesale flash prices tumbled 22% in the first quarter from the previous quarter, Semico Research says.

That's bad news for companies that manufacture flash, including Samsung, Toshiba and Hynix (formerly a division of Hyundai). But it lowers the cost of making everything from universal serial bus (USB) drives to navigation systems to cellphones.

Savings are being passed on to consumers -- but not in the way one might expect, says tech analyst Stephen Baker at researcher NPD. "You're not seeing changes in ...