An upward pricing trend for both DRAM and NAND flash persisted in the spot market this week (August 3-6), backed by a positive price projection. Among all items, the growth momentum for DDR2 pricing particularly drew the spotlight, as both suppliers and buyers were aggressive in pushing DDR3, according to inSpectrum.
Spot price of 1Gb DDR3 grew by another 7% for the week, with branded chips pegged at US$1.33 at the evening session of August 6. Most 1Gb DDR3 chips were dealt at US$1.97 during the week, inSpectrum said.
The sustained growth momentum for DDR3 was not surprising as DDR3 is expected to be in slight shortage throughout the entire third quarter, inSpectrum said.
Amid the migration to DDR3, most vendors are currently finding it easier to maintain strong DDR2 pricing, as customers have finally realized that DDR2 output is declining, inSpectrum added. Spot price of 1Gb DDR2 grew by more than 30% in July.
DDR2 is estimated to account for 62% of total output in the third quarter with DDR3 at 34%. For the fourth quarter, production split is forecast at 52% DDR2 and 45% DDR3, meaning DDR3 output will definitely surpass DDR2 in the first quarter of 2010, inSpectrum said.
For the NAND flash market, a positive price projection from a leading controller design house was a key driver of the upward pricing trend this week, inSpectrum pointed out.
Price of low-density NAND flash continued to outperform overall pricing amid solid demand for low-density microSD cards, the firm added.
| inSpectrum: Spot price for mainstream 1Gb DRAM chips, July 31-August 6, 2009 (US$) | |||
| Date | Branded DDR2 | White-brand DDR2 | Branded DDR3 |
| July 31 | 1.27 | 1.23 | 1.88 |
| August 3 | 1.29 | 1.24 | 1.9 |
| August 4 | 1.3 | 1.25 | 1.94 |
| August 5 | 1.33 | 1.28 | 1.97 |
| August 6 | 1.39 | 1.33 | 1.97 |
Source: inSpectrum, compiled by Digitimes, August 2009
