Increased NAND Flash contract Price reflects insufficient supply; DRAM demand may not rebound until May, Says DRAMeXchange

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2007-03-28 08:52

Taiwan--(뉴스와이어)--According to the latest NAND Flash pricing survey by DRAMeXchange, the contract price for the 4Gb, 8Gb, 16Gb and 32Gb MLC chips surged roughly 4%~7%. For the SLC chips, the price remained relatively the same among the various densities. This is the second contract price jump to occur for this year, where the first was recorded in 1HMar. DRAMeXchange believes the reason for the price rise can be attributed to the expected insufficient supply from upstream makers in April.

In the wake of the plummeting NAND Flash prices from last year, most of the upstream vendors have readjusted their respective Fab capacity. To decrease the NAND Flash output, some have concentrated on the production of DRAM from Fabs that are able to simultaneously roll out NAND Flash and DRAM. For suppliers that can only produce NAND Flash, most of their expansion plans have been put on hold in minimizing the impact from the persisting price drops.

Recently, MP3 manufacturers have been aggressively placing large orders to NAND Flash suppliers to stock up on inventory. However, the reduced capacity has rendered the major suppliers unable to provide enough NAND Flash chips to downstream retailers or memory card makers.

DRAMeXchange believes that as the NAND Flash supply becomes tighter, the price should remain stable in the short term, where a drop in the price will unlikely be seen.

Quarter end affects DRAM demand from PC OEMs; rebound may not occur until May

Different from NAND flash market, sluggish demand in the DRAM market continues to drive down the DDR2 spot price. The DDR 2 contract price for 2HMar has also slipped below the US$ 25 level. As April marks the quarterly end for some US-based PC OEM makers, any increase in the DRAM inventory levels would affect their fiscal results. It is projected that the DRAM demand will not return until May.

Poor demand is seen in the DRAM spot market. In the wake of the reduced supply of DDR chips, its price remained relatively unchanged. For DDR2, they still experienced a gradual price decline. Unless the DRAM prices stop dropping will retailers and module houses be more willing to place more orders. For last week, the DDR2 512Mb 667MHz tumbled to US$ 2.98, while the DDR2eTT dropped to US$ 2.53.

The overly high inventory levels of DRAM makers have rendered the contract price in 2HMar to continue dropping. The DDR2 512MB 667MHz module price has already slipped past the USD 25 level, as various DRAM makers try to clear out some of their inventory.

Despite the fact that the DRAM price has already reached a relatively low level, it should be noted that April also marks the quarterly end for some US-based PC OEM makers. Therefore, in order to present a better fiscal result, everyone will be avoiding an inventory buildup, which results in a weaker DRAM demand. In addition, from the DT or NB shipments in the March to April period, there is no sign of a PC replacement cycle in the wake of Vista's release.

About DRAMeXchange

DRAMeXchange is a global leading provider of market intelligence, in-depth analysis reports and consultant services on major electronics components. Our company consists of 2 major research divisions---DRAMeXchange and WitsView, which cover the DRAM, NAND Flash, PC and display research sectors. You can learn more about DRAMeXchange by visiting www.dramexchange.com.

In the year 2000, the company started to deliver market intelligence services under the name of DRAMeXchange technology. This included the current business environment, real-time spot trading prices, market trends, capital spending , wafer capacity trends, the impact of DRAM/flash memory products on the market, and other relevant PC industry information.

To further expand its research, DRAMeXchange acquired LCD research institute WitsView in 2006 to provide insights on the display industry.

WitsView is a subsidiary brand of DRAMeXchange, which provides prompt and credible market insights covering the quantitative pricing trend for both TFT-LCD panels and finished goods, industry updates and market intelligence. Founded in 2004, WitsView Technology Corporation is made up of a group of sophisticated industry analysts with years of experience, providing objective and strategic insights on the display industry. Additional information can be found at www.witsview.com.

웹사이트: http://www.DRAMeXchange.com