DRAM Stability

 

Although Samsung Electronics plans to build a new large-scale semiconductor production line at Godeok Industrial Complex a year early, the effects on the price of DRAM will not yet be felt.

A report at DRAMeXchange predicted on Oct. 8 that Samsung Electronics will keep its monthly production of 348,000 to 365,000 wafers from the third quarter of this year to the fourth quarter of next year. While 17 new production lines are expected to start manufacturing DRAM in the second quarter next year, the production volume of these 17 lines will only be around 10,000 to 40,000 wafers per month. Instead, the wafer manufacturing volume of existing production lines could decrease if manufacturing processes are successfully transformed into micro-forms.

DRAMeXchange projected that the new semiconductor complex of Samsung Electronics will officially start producing around the second half of 2016, and the price of DRAM will stay stable until then, due to strong demand. The productivity of DRAM supplying companies is expected to be maintained until next year.

However, if the evolution of micro-processes saves production costs and manufacturing volume is adjusted, the price of DRAM could possibly drop later.

On the other hand, DRAMeXchange forecasted that SK Hynix and Micron, major competitors of Samsung, are not quite likely to expand their production lines along with Samsung, as the entrance barrier to the DRAM market is very high due to the current oligopoly.

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