Both DRAM and NAND flash spot markets remained quiet at the beginning of the month, showing a mild downhill price trend, according to inSpectrum.
Judging from the historical pattern, DRAM spot price should have seen a sharper downhill trend after the Chinese New Year holidays. But such a trend has been prevented as most vendors seem disciplined over their supply volume to channels, inSpectrum explained.
Although many industry players expect a price rebound from March, some local traders/brokers are still clearing their DRAM inventory to the channels, especially for the effectively tested (eTT) items. Most are still cautiously watching the price trend and prefer not to act unless clearer signals are seen, inSpectrum observed.
As of noon of March 5, spot price of a 2Gb branded DDR3 remained flat at US$1.91. But a 2% drop was seen at the white-brand segment, with price pegged at US$1.54 in the same period.
Market sentiments in the NAND flash segment were improving instead. Although the labor shortage issue is still haunting the Greater China region, more demand for 64Gb multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash is being driven by applications such as tablet PCs and e-book readers.
As of noon of March 5, spot price of a 32Gb multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash was priced US$5.32 and triple-level cell (TLC) at US$4.05, both having a price change within a 1% range.
| inSpectrum: 1Gb DRAM spot price, Mar 1-4, 2011 (US$) | ||||
| Date | Branded DDR2 | White-brand DDR2 | Branded DDR3 | White-brand DDR3 |
| 03/01 | 1.39 | 1.35 | 1.15 | 0.94 |
| 03/02 | 1.39 | 1.35 | 1.15 | 0.93 |
| 03/03 | 1.39 | 1.34 | 1.15 | 0.92 |
| 03/04 | 1.39 | 1.34 | 1.15 | 0.92 |
Source: inSpectrum, compiled by Digitimes, March 2011
| inSpectrum: 2Gb DDR3 spot price, Mar 1-4, 2011 (US$) | ||
| Date | Branded | White-brand |
| 03/01 | 1.91 | 1.56 |
| 03/02 | 1.91 | 1.55 |
| 03/03 | 1.91 | 1.54 |
| 03/04 | 1.91 | 1.54 |
Source: inSpectrum, compiled by Digitimes, March 2011
| inSpectrum: MLC NAND flash spot price, Mar 1-4, 2011 (US$) | ||
| Date | 16Gb | 32Gb |
| 03/01 | 4.05 | 5.32 |
| 03/02 | 4.05 | 5.32 |
| 03/03 | 4.08 | 5.32 |
| 03/04 | 4.08 | 5.32 |
Source: inSpectrum, compiled by Digitimes, March 2011
| inSpectrum: TLC NAND flash spot price, Mar 1-4, 2011 (US$) | ||
| Date | 32Gb | 64Gb |
| 03/01 | 4.05 | 7.15 |
| 03/02 | 4.05 | 7.15 |
| 03/03 | 4.05 | 7.15 |
| 03/04 | 4.05 | 7.15 |
Source: inSpectrum, compiled by Digitimes, March 2011
