Due to Short Supply

The average price of fixed deals of NAND flash chips (64Gb 8Gx8 MLC) at the end of March recorded at US$3.56 (3,980 won), up 9.54 percent from a month earlier.
The average price of fixed deals of NAND flash chips (64Gb 8Gx8 MLC) at the end of March recorded at US$3.56 (3,980 won), up 9.54 percent from a month earlier.

 

The price of NAND flash memory chips increased more than 9 percent in March due to a short supply. It showed a 9 percent increase for three consecutive months, continuously skyrocketing.

According to market research firm DRAMeXchange on April 3, the average price of fixed deals of NAND flash chips (64Gb 8Gx8 MLC) at the end of March recorded at US$3.56 (3,980 won). The figure grew 9.54 percent from a month earlier.

The supply of NAND flash chips cannot keep up with the rising demand. As an increasing number of solid state drives (SSDs) with NAND flash chips are being used in personal computers and corporate servers and storages, the demand of NAND flash chips is growing as well as the storage capacity in smartphones. TrendForce, a world leading market intelligence provider, said, “The demand from computer and smartphone producers is continuously increasing. However, NAND flash chips are in short supply as NAND flash producers are converting their process from 2D to 3D. The yield rate of 3D NAND flash chips is still low and the newly produced chips are being supplied to Apple and some other companies first.” As the insufficient supply of NAND flash chips continues, its prices will keep increasing unless the demand from computer and smartphone makers decreases.

The average price of fixed deals of DRAM chips (DDR3 4Gb 512Mx8 1333/1600MHz) over the same period was US$2.75 (3,075 won), remaining at the same level a month ago. However, the figure showed a whopping 42 percent increase from a year earlier. TrendForce said, “As DRAMs for servers are seeing the demand increase and DRAMs for mobile devices are showing the steady demand, it seems certain that the price of DRAMs will grow in the second quarter.”


 

Copyright © BusinessKorea. Prohibited from unauthorized reproduction and redistribution