The price erosion in the channel has aggravated as leading DRAM module houses have launched sharp price revisions, prompting traders/brokers to dump more inventory, according to inSpectrum.
As of the noon session of June 10, spot pricing for 2Gb branded and non-branded DDR3 chips dropped 2% to US$1.67 and US$1.58, respectively.
The drop was triggered by leading module houses' price revisions. Leading memory module houses such as Kingston Technology have progressively lowered quotes for 2GB DDR3 module by around US$1 per week in the past two weeks. The 12% drop has prompted some brokers/traders to dump more of their inventory amid the sluggish outlook, inSpectrum observed.
inSpectrum believes such a slow sentiment is going to continue throughout June. Demand in the channel may see some improvement when the back-to-school season approaches but the magnitude should be limited, the firm said.
The OEM market is also witnessing weakening procurement as most PC OEMs have piled up sufficient inventory for the upcoming hot season. Given that most are still cautious about their sales outlooks for the coming quarter, there is no strong incentive to build more inventory, implying price erosion is ahead, inSpectrum projected.