Continuous Price Rising
A forecast was made that DRAMs and NAND flash memories will hit record high price hike rates this year. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are leading companies in the DRAM and NAND flash sector.
According to market researcher IC Insights, the average selling price (ASP) of a DRAM will rise 63%, a record high, this year. Since 1993 when IC Insights began to compile data, 1997 saw the ASP of a DRAM rise highest (57%).
The DRAM ASP slid 1.2% in the second quarter of last year, but rose 3.7% in the third quarter, 22.8% in the fourth quarter in the same year, 21.5% in the first quarter of this year and 19.0% in the second quarter of this year, continuing to fly high. The strong demand compared to a weak supply has driven up DRAM prices, analysts say.
NAND flash ASP growth is also expected to reach 33% this year. NAND flash also showed a decline of 6.8 percent in the second quarter of last year, but posted 11.2 percent and 21.1 percent growth in the third and fourth quarters of the year, respectively. In the first and second quarters of this year, ASP grew by 8.9% and 5.0%, respectively.
Looking at the quarterly ASP growth rate from the third quarter of last year to the second quarter of this year, DRAM grew 16.8% and NAND flash did 11.6%.
However, IC Insights predicted that DRAM prices will continue to rise until Q3 this year, and then inch down in Q4. "Observing the history of the memory semiconductor market, an excessive capital investment led to overcapacity, which gave rise to a drop in prices," said a representative of IC Insights. Meanwhile, as of the end of last month, the average fixed prices of a DRAM and a NAND flash memory were US$3.09 and US$5.55, respectively.