Samsung Electronics has claimed that a brief power outage that occurred at its production base in Kiheung on the afternoon of March 24 will not have a significant impact on its production. However, the one-hour blackout has still raised some concerns about its production of 32Gb and other high-density NAND flash chips, and supply to the already-tight DRAM market.
Samsung's 12-inch Fab 13 and Fab 14 - the former mainly for DRAM production and the latter NAND flash - were mostly affected by the power failure, according to sources at the vendor's supply chain partners. Monthly capacities at Fab 13 and Fab 14 are estimated at 120,000 and 130,000 wafers, respectively.
Samsung's Kiheung base was hit by a serious power outage in 2007. The damage forced the company to temporarily shut down six of its production lines, which mainly disrupted its NAND flash production.
Spot prices for mainstream 1Gb DRAM chips have maintained their upswing. Branded and effectively tested (eTT) 1Gb DDR3 chips topped US$3 during the morning trading session of March 25, while same-density DDR2 parts soared to US$2.99.
As to NAND flash, average spot prices for high-density multi-level cell (MLC) chips were relatively stable during the morning session, and 32Gb and 64Gb MLC NAND flash were quoted at US$7.04 and US$15.34, respectively.