DRAM prices will rally through the second quarter of 2017 to reflect ongoing tight supply, according to Pei-Ing Lee, president for Nanya Technology. It is likely prices will start to show stability in the third quarter.

The global DRAM supply will continue to fall slightly short of demand in the second quarter, said Lee, adding that the company's DRAM ASPs will rise in both the first and second quarters.

DRAM prices are expected to become less volatile starting the third quarter, Lee noted. Nevertheless, the overall market conditions during the second half of 2017 will depend very much on major chip vendors' capex plans for DRAM, Lee said.

In addition, Lee disclosed Nanya is set to move a newer 20nm process to risk production at the end of the first quarter. The company expects to start making chips built using the most-advanced technology between the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third quarter, Lee indicated.

Nanya will have an estimated 30,000 12-inch wafers manufactured using 20nm process technology monthly in the first quarter of 2018, according to Lee. Meanwhile, Nanya's 30nm process output will reduce to 30,000 units monthly, said Lee.

Nanya's capex for 2017 will be similar to the sum of about NT$22.34 billion allocated for 2016, Lee added.